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90_HB1495
40 ILCS 5/16-127 from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 16-127
Amends the Downstate Teacher Article of the Pension Code.
Allows up to 5 years of credit to be established for periods
between January 1, 1959 and December 31, 1963 during which a
teacher was employed by Southern Illinois University -
Carbondale. Effective immediately.
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1 AN ACT to amend the Illinois Pension Code by changing
2 Section 16-127.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 5. The Illinois Pension Code is amended by
6 changing Section 16-127 as follows:
7 (40 ILCS 5/16-127) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 16-127)
8 Sec. 16-127. Computation of creditable service.
9 (a) Each member shall receive regular credit for all
10 service as a teacher from the date membership begins, for
11 which satisfactory evidence is supplied and all contributions
12 have been paid.
13 (b) The following periods of service shall earn optional
14 credit and each member shall receive credit for all such
15 service for which satisfactory evidence is supplied and all
16 contributions have been paid as of the date specified:
17 (1) Prior service as a teacher.
18 (2) Service in a capacity essentially similar or
19 equivalent to that of a teacher, in the public common
20 schools in school districts in this State not included
21 within the provisions of this System, or of any other
22 State, territory, dependency or possession of the United
23 States, or in schools operated by or under the auspices
24 of the United States, or under the auspices of any agency
25 or department of any other State, and service during any
26 period of professional speech correction or special
27 education experience for a public agency within this
28 State or any other State, territory, dependency or
29 possession of the United States, and service prior to
30 February 1, 1951 as a recreation worker for the Illinois
31 Department of Public Safety, for a period not exceeding
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1 the lesser of 2/5 of the total creditable service of the
2 member or 10 years. The maximum service of 10 years
3 which is allowable under this paragraph shall be reduced
4 by the service credit which is validated by other
5 retirement systems under paragraph (i) of Section 15-113
6 and paragraph 1 of Section 17-133. Credit granted under
7 this paragraph may not be used in determination of a
8 retirement annuity or disability benefits unless the
9 member has at least 5 years of creditable service earned
10 subsequent to this employment with one or more of the
11 following systems: Teachers' Retirement System of the
12 State of Illinois, State Universities Retirement System,
13 and the Public School Teachers' Pension and Retirement
14 Fund of Chicago. Whenever such service credit exceeds
15 the maximum allowed for all purposes of this Article, the
16 first service rendered in point of time shall be
17 considered. The changes to this subdivision (b)(2) made
18 by Public Act 86-272 shall apply not only to persons who
19 on or after its effective date (August 23, 1989) are in
20 service as a teacher under the System, but also to
21 persons whose status as such a teacher terminated prior
22 to such effective date, whether or not such person is an
23 annuitant on that date.
24 (3) Any periods immediately following teaching
25 service, under this System or under Article 17, (or
26 immediately following service prior to February 1, 1951
27 as a recreation worker for the Illinois Department of
28 Public Safety) spent in active service with the military
29 forces of the United States; periods spent in educational
30 programs that prepare for return to teaching sponsored by
31 the federal government following such active military
32 service; if a teacher returns to teaching service within
33 one calendar year after discharge or after the completion
34 of the educational program, a further period, not
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1 exceeding one calendar year, between time spent in
2 military service or in such educational programs and the
3 return to employment as a teacher under this System; and
4 a period of up to 2 years of active military service not
5 immediately following employment as a teacher.
6 The changes to this Section and Section 16-128
7 relating to military service made by P.A. 87-794 shall
8 apply not only to persons who on or after its effective
9 date are in service as a teacher under the System, but
10 also to persons whose status as a teacher terminated
11 prior to that date, whether or not the person is an
12 annuitant on that date. In the case of an annuitant who
13 applies for credit allowable under this Section for a
14 period of military service that did not immediately
15 follow employment, and who has made the required
16 contributions for such credit, the annuity shall be
17 recalculated to include the additional service credit,
18 with the increase taking effect on the date the System
19 received written notification of the annuitant's intent
20 to purchase the credit, if payment of all the required
21 contributions is made within 60 days of such notice, or
22 else on the first annuity payment date following the date
23 of payment of the required contributions. In calculating
24 the automatic annual increase for an annuity that has
25 been recalculated under this Section, the increase
26 attributable to the additional service allowable under
27 P.A. 87-794 shall be included in the calculation of
28 automatic annual increases accruing after the effective
29 date of the recalculation.
30 Credit for military service shall be determined as
31 follows: if entry occurs during the months of July,
32 August, or September and the member was a teacher at the
33 end of the immediately preceding school term, credit
34 shall be granted from July 1 of the year in which he or
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1 she entered service; if entry occurs during the school
2 term and the teacher was in teaching service at the
3 beginning of the school term, credit shall be granted
4 from July 1 of such year. In all other cases where credit
5 for military service is allowed, credit shall be granted
6 from the date of entry into the service.
7 The total period of military service for which
8 credit is granted shall not exceed 5 years for any member
9 unless the service: (A) is validated before July 1,
10 1964, and (B) does not extend beyond July 1, 1963.
11 Credit for military service shall be granted under this
12 Section only if not more than 5 years of the military
13 service for which credit is granted under this Section is
14 used by the member to qualify for a military retirement
15 allotment from any branch of the armed forces of the
16 United States. The changes to this subdivision (b)(3)
17 made by Public Act 86-272 shall apply not only to persons
18 who on or after its effective date (August 23, 1989) are
19 in service as a teacher under the System, but also to
20 persons whose status as such a teacher terminated prior
21 to such effective date, whether or not such person is an
22 annuitant on that date.
23 (4) Any periods served as a member of the General
24 Assembly.
25 (5)(i) Any periods for which a teacher, as defined
26 in Section 16-106, is granted a leave of absence,
27 provided he or she returns to teaching service creditable
28 under this System or the State Universities Retirement
29 System following the leave; (ii) periods during which a
30 teacher is involuntarily laid off from teaching, provided
31 he or she returns to teaching following the lay-off;
32 (iii) periods prior to July 1, 1983 during which a
33 teacher ceased covered employment due to pregnancy,
34 provided that the teacher returned to teaching service
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1 creditable under this System or the State Universities
2 Retirement System following the pregnancy and submits
3 evidence satisfactory to the Board documenting that the
4 employment ceased due to pregnancy. However, total
5 credit under this paragraph (5) may not exceed 3 years.
6 Any qualified member or annuitant may apply for
7 credit under item (iii) of this paragraph (5) without
8 regard to whether service was terminated before the
9 effective date of this amendatory Act of 1995. In the
10 case of an annuitant who establishes credit under item
11 (iii), the annuity shall be recalculated to include the
12 additional service credit. The increase in annuity shall
13 take effect on the date the System receives written
14 notification of the annuitant's intent to purchase the
15 credit, if the required evidence is submitted and the
16 required contribution paid within 60 days of that
17 notification, otherwise on the first annuity payment date
18 following the System's receipt of the required evidence
19 and contribution. The increase in an annuity
20 recalculated under this provision shall be included in
21 the calculation of automatic annual increases in the
22 annuity accruing after the effective date of the
23 recalculation.
24 Optional credit may be purchased under this
25 subsection (b)(5) for periods during which a teacher has
26 been granted a leave of absence pursuant to Section 24-13
27 of the School Code. A teacher whose service under this
28 Article terminated prior to the effective date of P.A.
29 86-1488 shall be eligible to purchase such optional
30 credit. If a teacher who purchases this optional credit
31 is already receiving a retirement annuity under this
32 Article, the annuity shall be recalculated as if the
33 annuitant had applied for the leave of absence credit at
34 the time of retirement. The difference between the
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1 entitled annuity and the actual annuity shall be credited
2 to the purchase of the optional credit. The remainder of
3 the purchase cost of the optional credit shall be paid on
4 or before April 1, 1992.
5 The change in this paragraph made by Public Act
6 86-273 shall be applicable to teachers who retire after
7 June 1, 1989, as well as to teachers who are in service
8 on that date.
9 (6) Any days of unused and uncompensated
10 accumulated sick leave earned by a teacher. The service
11 credit granted under this paragraph shall be the ratio of
12 the number of unused and uncompensated accumulated sick
13 leave days to 170 days, subject to a maximum of one year
14 of service credit. Prior to the member's retirement,
15 each former employer shall certify to the System the
16 number of unused and uncompensated accumulated sick leave
17 days credited to the member at the time of termination of
18 service. The period of unused sick leave shall not be
19 considered in determining the effective date of
20 retirement. A member is not required to make
21 contributions in order to obtain service credit for
22 unused sick leave.
23 Credit for sick leave shall, at retirement, be
24 granted by the System for any retiring regional or
25 assistant regional superintendent of schools at the rate
26 of 6 days per year of creditable service or portion
27 thereof established while serving as such superintendent
28 or assistant superintendent.
29 (7) Periods prior to February 1, 1987 served as an
30 employee of the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
31 for which credit has not been terminated under Section
32 15-113.9 of this Code.
33 (8) Service as a substitute teacher for work
34 performed prior to July 1, 1990.
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1 (9) Service as a part-time teacher for work
2 performed prior to July 1, 1990.
3 (10) Up to 5 2 years of employment with Southern
4 Illinois University - Carbondale between January 1, 1959
5 and December 31, 1963 from September 1, 1959 to August
6 31, 1961, or with Governors State University from
7 September 1, 1972 to August 31, 1974, for which the
8 teacher has no credit under Article 15. To receive
9 credit under this item (10), a teacher must apply in
10 writing to the Board and pay the required contributions
11 before May 1, 1998 1993 and have at least 12 years of
12 service credit under this Article.
13 (c) The service credits specified in this Section shall
14 be granted only if: (1) such service credits are not used
15 for credit in any other statutory tax-supported public
16 employee retirement system other than the federal Social
17 Security program; and (2) the member makes the required
18 contributions as specified in Section 16-128. The service
19 credit shall be effective as of the date the required
20 contributions are completed.
21 Any service credits granted under this Section shall
22 terminate upon cessation of membership for any cause.
23 Credit may not be granted under this Section covering any
24 period for which an age retirement or disability retirement
25 allowance has been paid.
26 (Source: P.A. 88-45; 89-430, eff. 12-15-95.)
27 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
28 becoming law.