Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of HB0508
Illinois General Assembly

Previous General Assemblies

Full Text of HB0508  93rd General Assembly

HB0508 93rd General Assembly


093_HB0508

 
                                     LRB093 03927 EFG 03964 b

 1        AN ACT in relation to public employee benefits.

 2        Be  it  enacted  by  the People of the State of Illinois,
 3    represented in the General Assembly:

 4        Section 5.  The  Illinois  Pension  Code  is  amended  by
 5    changing Section 4-108 as follows:

 6        (40 ILCS 5/4-108) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 4-108)
 7        Sec. 4-108.  Creditable service.
 8        (a)  Creditable   service   is   the  time  served  as  a
 9    firefighter  of  a  municipality.   In  computing  creditable
10    service,  furloughs  and  leaves  of  absence   without   pay
11    exceeding  30  days in any one year shall not be counted, but
12    leaves of absence  for  illness  or  accident  regardless  of
13    length,  and  periods  of  disability for which a firefighter
14    received no disability pension payments under  this  Article,
15    shall be counted.
16        (b)  Furloughs  and  leaves of absence of 30 days or less
17    in any one year may be counted as creditable service, if  the
18    firefighter  makes  the  contribution  to the fund that would
19    have been required had he or she  not  been  on  furlough  or
20    leave  of  absence.   To qualify for this creditable service,
21    the firefighter must pay the required  contributions  to  the
22    fund  not  more than 90 days subsequent to the termination of
23    the furlough or leave of absence,  to  the  extent  that  the
24    municipality  has  not  made  such contribution on his or her
25    behalf.
26        (c)  Creditable service includes:
27             (1)  Service in the military, naval or air forces of
28        the United States entered upon when  the  person  was  an
29        active  firefighter,  provided  that, upon applying for a
30        permanent pension, and in accordance with  the  rules  of
31        the  board  the firefighter pays into the fund the amount
 
                            -2-      LRB093 03927 EFG 03964 b
 1        that would have been contributed had he  or  she  been  a
 2        regular contributor during such period of service, if and
 3        to the extent that the municipality which the firefighter
 4        served  made  no such contributions in his or her behalf.
 5        The total amount of such  creditable  service  shall  not
 6        exceed  5  years, except that any firefighter who on July
 7        1, 1973 had more than 5 years of such creditable  service
 8        shall receive the total amount thereof as of that date.
 9             (2)  Service  prior to July 1, 1976 by a firefighter
10        initially excluded from participation by  reason  of  age
11        who   elected   to  participate  and  paid  the  required
12        contributions for such service.
13             (3)  Up to 8 years of service by a firefighter as an
14        officer in a statewide firefighters' association when  he
15        is  on  a leave of absence from a municipality's payroll,
16        provided that (i) the firefighter has at least  10  years
17        of  creditable service as an active firefighter, (ii) the
18        firefighter contributes to the fund the  amount  that  he
19        would  have  contributed had he remained an active member
20        of  the  fund,  and  (iii)  the  employee  or   statewide
21        firefighter association contributes to the fund an amount
22        equal   to   the   employer's  required  contribution  as
23        determined by the board.
24             (4)  Time  spent  as  an  on-call  fireman   for   a
25        municipality,  calculated  at  the  rate  of  one year of
26        creditable service for each 5 years of time spent  as  an
27        on-call fireman, provided that (i) the firefighter has at
28        least  18  years  of  creditable  service  as  an  active
29        firefighter, (ii) the firefighter spent at least 14 years
30        as an on-call firefighter for the municipality, (iii) the
31        firefighter applies for such creditable service within 30
32        days  after  the effective date of this amendatory Act of
33        1989, (iv) the firefighter contributes to  the   Fund  an
34        amount representing employee contributions for the number
 
                            -3-      LRB093 03927 EFG 03964 b
 1        of   years  of  creditable  service  granted  under  this
 2        subdivision (4), based on  the  salary  and  contribution
 3        rate  in  effect for the firefighter at the date of entry
 4        into the Fund, to be determined by the board, and (v) not
 5        more than 3 years of creditable service  may  be  granted
 6        under this subdivision (4).
 7             Creditable   service   shall  not  under  any  other
 8        circumstances  include  time   spent   as   a   volunteer
 9        firefighter, whether or not any compensation was received
10        therefor.  The  change made in this Section by Public Act
11        83-0463 is intended to be a restatement and clarification
12        of existing law,  and  does  not  imply  that  creditable
13        service  was  previously  allowed  under this Article for
14        time spent as a volunteer firefighter.
15             (5)  Time served between July 1, 1976  and  July  1,
16        1988  in the position of protective inspection officer or
17        administrative  assistant  for  fire  services,   for   a
18        municipality  with  a  population  under  10,000  that is
19        located in a county with a population over 3,000,000  and
20        that  maintains  a  firefighters' pension fund under this
21        Article, if the position  included  firefighting  duties,
22        notwithstanding  that  the  person  may  not have held an
23        appointment as a firefighter, provided  that  application
24        is  made  to  the  pension  fund within 30 days after the
25        effective date of this amendatory Act of  1991,  and  the
26        corresponding  contributions  are  paid for the number of
27        years of service  granted,  based  upon  the  salary  and
28        contribution  rate  in  effect for the firefighter at the
29        date of entry into the pension fund, as determined by the
30        Board.
31             (6)  Service before  becoming  a  participant  by  a
32        firefighter  initially  excluded  from  participation  by
33        reason  of  age  who  becomes  a  participant  under  the
34        amendment to Section 4-107 made by this amendatory Act of
 
                            -4-      LRB093 03927 EFG 03964 b
 1        1993   and  pays  the  required  contributions  for  such
 2        service.
 3             (7)  Up  to  3  years  of  time  during  which   the
 4        firefighter  receives  a disability pension under Section
 5        4-110,  4-110.1,  or  4-111,  provided   that   (i)   the
 6        firefighter   returns   to   active   service  after  the
 7        disability for a period at least equal to the period  for
 8        which   credit   is   to  be  established  and  (ii)  the
 9        firefighter makes contributions to the fund based on  the
10        rates  specified  in  Section 4-118.1 and the salary upon
11        which  the  disability   pension   is   based.      These
12        contributions  may  be  paid  at  any  time  prior to the
13        commencement of a retirement  pension.   The  firefighter
14        may,  but  need  not,  elect  to  have  the contributions
15        deducted from the disability pension or to  pay  them  in
16        installments on a schedule approved by the board.  If not
17        deducted  from  the disability pension, the contributions
18        shall include interest  at  the  rate  of  6%  per  year,
19        compounded  annually,  from  the  date  for which service
20        credit is being established to the date of payment.    If
21        contributions  are  paid under this subdivision (c)(7) in
22        excess of those  needed  to  establish  the  credit,  the
23        excess   shall  be  refunded.   This  subdivision  (c)(7)
24        applies to persons receiving a disability  pension  under
25        Section 4-110, 4-110.1, or 4-111 on the effective date of
26        this amendatory Act of the 91st General Assembly, as well
27        as persons who begin to receive such a disability pension
28        after that date.
29             (8)  Service for which credits have been transferred
30        pursuant to Section 7-210(d).
31    (Source: P.A. 91-466, eff. 8-6-99.)

32        Section  90.  The State Mandates Act is amended by adding
33    Section 8.27 as follows:
 
                            -5-      LRB093 03927 EFG 03964 b
 1        (30 ILCS 805/8.27 new)
 2        Sec. 8.27. Exempt mandate.   Notwithstanding  Sections  6
 3    and  8 of this Act, no reimbursement by the State is required
 4    for  the  implementation  of  any  mandate  created  by  this
 5    amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly.

 6        Section 99. Effective date.  This Act takes  effect  upon
 7    becoming law.