Full Text of SR0446 97th General Assembly
SR0446 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The Illinois Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund | 3 | | went into debt during the recent economic recession and will | 4 | | not reach solvency for years to come; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, The State of Illinois borrowed from the federal | 6 | | government to continue to meet its benefit obligations during | 7 | | the recession; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, The federal interest waiver on these loans expired | 9 | | in January of 2011 and the State of Illinois has been accruing | 10 | | interest on these federal loans; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, Representatives of the Illinois business and | 12 | | labor communities met over the last 3 months in an effort to | 13 | | reach a joint agreement on these debt and deficit issues; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, This working group sought to address the immediate | 15 | | and long term solvency issues of the Illinois Unemployment | 16 | | Insurance Trust Fund; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, Representatives of business and labor reached an | 18 | | agreement to address the immediate solvency issues of the trust | 19 | | fund and outstanding debt to the federal government, the | 20 | | product of which has been committed as House Amendment 4 and |
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| 1 | | House Amendment 5 to Senate Bill 72 of the 97th General | 2 | | Assembly; and
| 3 | | WHEREAS, The Trust Fund debt is not the result of | 4 | | overspending but rather a direct result of an economic downturn | 5 | | that forced employers to reduce their workforce, and as a | 6 | | consequence increased the numbers drawing unemployment | 7 | | benefits in Illinois; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, A sustainable Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund | 9 | | is necessary to provide an adequate social safety net to the | 10 | | citizens of Illinois and a healthy trust fund is necessary to | 11 | | ameliorate; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, Unemployment rates in Illinois remain | 13 | | unyieldingly high, and it is in the interest of the people of | 14 | | the State of Illinois for their General Assembly to monitor, | 15 | | study, and correct any shortcomings in the structure and | 16 | | operation of the Illinois Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund; | 17 | | and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, House Amendment 4 and House Amendment 5 to Senate | 19 | | Bill 72 of the 97th General Assembly include specific points in | 20 | | time, specifically in 2016 and again in 2018, at which business | 21 | | and labor representatives will have again worked to realize | 22 | | long term sustainable goals for the State's Unemployment |
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| 1 | | Insurance Trust Fund and the related benefit system; and | 2 | | WHEREAS, Both business and labor representatives recognize | 3 | | and agree that long-term reforms would benefit the unemployment | 4 | | insurance system in Illinois; therefore, be it
| 5 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL | 6 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that the Illinois | 7 | | Unemployment Insurance Reform Committee is hereby created to | 8 | | study the system of unemployment insurance benefits, trust fund | 9 | | stability, and reforms that interested parties believe are | 10 | | warranted; and be it further
| 11 | | RESOLVED, That within 90 days after the adoption of this | 12 | | resolution the President of the Illinois Senate and the Speaker | 13 | | of the Illinois House shall each appoint 2 representatives of | 14 | | organized labor, and the Minority Leader of the Senate and the | 15 | | Minority Leader of the House shall each appoint 2 | 16 | | representatives of the state's employers; and be it further
| 17 | | RESOLVED, That within 90 days after the adoption of this | 18 | | resolution the President of the Illinois Senate, the Minority | 19 | | Leader of the Senate, the Speaker of the Illinois House, and | 20 | | the Minority Leader of the Illinois House shall each appoint | 21 | | one member of their respective caucuses to the Unemployment | 22 | | Insurance Reform Committee; and be it further |
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| 1 | | RESOLVED, That the Illinois Department of Employment | 2 | | Security shall provide all necessary and requested technical | 3 | | and advisory assistance to the Reform Committee; and be it | 4 | | further | 5 | | RESOLVED, That the Illinois Unemployment Insurance Reform | 6 | | Committee shall recommend the structure and reforms necessary | 7 | | to stabilize and ensure an adequate and sound Unemployment | 8 | | Insurance Trust Fund and benefits system for Illinois; and be | 9 | | it further | 10 | | RESOLVED, That the Illinois Unemployment Insurance Reform | 11 | | Committee shall submit a written report of their activities and | 12 | | recommendations, by majority vote of the members appointed, to | 13 | | the General Assembly by January 1, 2015.
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