Public Act 094-0129
 
HB0741 Enrolled LRB094 07156 AMC 37310 b

    AN ACT concerning public employee benefits.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Illinois Pension Code is amended by changing
Section 16-150.1 as follows:
 
    (40 ILCS 5/16-150.1)
    Sec. 16-150.1. Return to teaching in subject shortage area.
    (a) As used in this Section, "eligible employment" means
employment beginning on or after July 1, 2003 and ending no
later than June 30, 2008, in a subject shortage area at a
qualified school, in a position requiring certification under
the law governing the certification of teachers.
    As used in this Section, "qualified school" means a public
elementary or secondary school that meets all of the following
requirements:
        (1) At the time of hiring a retired teacher under this
    Section, the school is experiencing a shortage of teachers
    in the subject shortage area for which the teacher is
    hired.
        (2) The school district to which the school belongs has
    complied with the requirements of subsection (e), and the
    regional superintendent has certified that compliance to
    the System.
        (3) If the school district to which the school belongs
    provides group health benefits for its teachers generally,
    substantially similar health benefits are made available
    for teachers participating in the program under this
    Section, without any limitations based on pre-existing
    conditions.
    (b) An annuitant receiving a retirement annuity under this
Article (other than a disability retirement annuity) may engage
in eligible employment at a qualified school without impairing
his or her retirement status or retirement annuity, subject to
the following conditions:
        (1) the eligible employment does not begin within the
    school year during which service was terminated;
        (2) the annuitant has not received any early retirement
    incentive under Section 16-133.3, 16-133.4, or 16-133.5;
        (3) if the annuitant retired before age 60 and with
    less than 34 years of service, the eligible employment does
    not begin within the year following the effective date of
    the retirement annuity;
        (4) if the annuitant retired at age 60 or above or with
    34 or more years of service, the eligible employment does
    not begin within the 90 days following the effective date
    of the retirement annuity; and
        (5) before the eligible employment begins, the
    employer notifies the System in writing of the annuitant's
    desire to participate in the program established under this
    Section.
    (c) An annuitant engaged in eligible employment in
accordance with subsection (b) shall be deemed a participant in
the program established under this Section for so long as he or
she remains employed in eligible employment.
    (d) A participant in the program established under this
Section continues to be a retirement annuitant, rather than an
active teacher, for all of the purposes of this Code, but shall
be deemed an active teacher for other purposes, such as
inclusion in a collective bargaining unit, eligibility for
group health benefits, and compliance with the laws governing
the employment, regulation, certification, treatment, and
conduct of teachers.
    With respect to an annuitant's eligible employment under
this Section, neither employee nor employer contributions
shall be made to the System and no additional service credit
shall be earned. Eligible employment does not affect the
annuitant's final average salary or the amount of the
retirement annuity.
    (e) Before hiring a teacher under this Section, the school
district to which the school belongs must do the following:
        (1) If the school district to which the school belongs
    has honorably dismissed, within the calendar year
    preceding the beginning of the school term for which it
    seeks to employ a retired teacher under the program
    established in this Section, any teachers who are legally
    qualified to hold positions in the subject shortage area
    and have not yet begun to receive their retirement
    annuities under this Article, the vacant positions must
    first be tendered to those teachers.
        (2) For a period of at least 90 days during the 6
    months preceding the beginning of either the fall or spring
    term the school term for which it seeks to employ a retired
    teacher under the program established in this Section, the
    school district must, on an ongoing basis, both (i)
    advertise its vacancies in the subject shortage area in a
    newspaper of general circulation in the area in which the
    school is located and in employment bulletins published by
    college and university placement offices located near the
    school; and (ii) search for teachers legally qualified to
    fill those vacancies through the Illinois Education Job
    Bank.
    The school district must submit documentation of its
compliance with this subsection to the regional
superintendent. Upon receiving satisfactory documentation from
the school district, the regional superintendent shall certify
the district's compliance with this subsection to the System.
    (f) This Section applies without regard to whether the
annuitant was in service on or after the effective date of this
amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly.
(Source: P.A. 93-320, eff. 7-23-03.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.

Effective Date: 7/7/2005