Public Act 100-0556
 
HB0299 EnrolledLRB100 05275 RPS 15285 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 
Sections 15-113, 15-135, 15-139.5, 15-152, 15-153.2, and 
15-168.1 as follows:
 



    (40 ILCS 5/15-113)  (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 15-113)



    Sec. 15-113. Service. "Service":  The periods defined in 
Sections
15-113.1 through 15-113.9 and Sections Section 
15-113.11 through 15-113.12.

(Source: P.A. 97-933, eff. 8-10-12; 97-968, eff. 8-16-12.)

 


    (40 ILCS 5/15-135)  (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 15-135)



    (Text of Section WITHOUT the changes made by P.A. 98-599, 
which has been held unconstitutional)
    Sec. 15-135. Retirement annuities - Conditions. 

    (a) This subsection (a) applies only to a Tier 1 member. A 
participant who retires in one of the following specified years 
with
the specified amount of service is entitled to a 
retirement annuity at any age
under the retirement program 
applicable to the participant:


        35 years if retirement is in 1997 or before;


        34 years if retirement is in 1998;


        33 years if retirement is in 1999;


        32 years if retirement is in 2000;


        31 years if retirement is in 2001;


        30 years if retirement is in 2002 or later.


    A participant with 8 or more years of service after 
September 1, 1941, is
entitled to a retirement annuity on or 
after attainment of age 55.

    A participant with at least 5 but less than 8 years
of 
service after September 1, 1941, is entitled to a retirement 
annuity on
or after attainment of age 62.

    A participant who has at least 25 years of service in this 
system as a
police officer or firefighter is entitled to a 
retirement
annuity on or after the attainment of age 50, if 
Rule 4 of Section
15-136 is applicable to the participant.

    (a-5)  A Tier 2 member is entitled to a retirement annuity 
upon written application if he or she has attained age 67 and 
has at least 10 years of service credit and is otherwise 
eligible under the requirements of this Article. A Tier 2 
member who has attained age 62 and has at least 10 years of 
service credit and is otherwise eligible under the requirements 
of this Article may elect to receive the lower retirement 
annuity provided in subsection (b-5) of Section 15-136 of this 
Article. 
    (b) The annuity payment period shall begin on the date 
specified by the
participant or the recipient of a disability 
retirement annuity submitting a written application. For a 
participant, the date on which the annuity payment period 
begins , which date shall not be prior
to termination of 
employment or more than one year before the application is

received by the board; however, if the participant is not an 
employee of an
employer participating in this System or in a 
participating system as defined
in Article 20 of this Code on 
April 1 of the calendar year next following
the calendar year 
in which the participant attains age 70 1/2, the annuity

payment period shall begin on that date regardless of whether 
an application
has been filed. For a recipient of a disability 
retirement annuity, the date on which the annuity payment 
period begins shall not be prior to the discontinuation of the 
disability retirement annuity under Section 15-153.2. 

    (c) An annuity is not payable if the amount provided under 
Section
15-136 is less than $10 per month.

(Source: P.A. 97-933, eff. 8-10-12; 97-968, eff. 8-16-12; 
98-92, eff. 7-16-13.)


 
    (40 ILCS 5/15-139.5)
    Sec. 15-139.5. Return to work by affected annuitant; notice 
and contribution  by employer.
    (a) An employer who employs  or re-employs a person 
receiving a retirement annuity from the System in an academic 
year beginning on or  after August 1, 2013 must notify the 
System of that employment within 60 days after employing the 
annuitant.  The notice must include a summary of the contract of 
employment or specify the rate of compensation  and the 
anticipated length of employment of that annuitant. The notice 
must specify whether the annuitant will be compensated from 
federal, corporate, foundation, or trust funds or grants of 
State funds that identify the principal investigator by name.  
The notice must include the employer's determination of whether 
or not the annuitant is an "affected annuitant" as defined in 
subsection (b).
    The employer must also record,  document, and certify to the 
System (i) the amount of compensation paid to the annuitant for  
employment during the academic year, and (ii) the amount of 
that compensation, if any, that comes from either federal, 
corporate, foundation, or trust funds or grants of State funds 
that identify the principal investigator by name.
    As used in this Section, "academic year" means the 12-month 
period beginning September 1. 
    For the purposes of this Section, an annuitant whose 
employment by an employer extends over more than one academic 
year shall be deemed to be re-employed by that employer in each 
of those academic years. 
    The System may specify the time, form, and manner of 
providing the determinations, notifications, certifications, 
and documentation required under this Section. 
    (b) A person receiving a retirement annuity from the System 
becomes an "affected annuitant" on the first day of the 
academic year following the academic year in which the 
annuitant first meets the following conditions:
        (1) (Blank). 
        (2) While receiving a retirement annuity under this 
    Article, the annuitant was employed on or after August 1, 
    2013 by one or more employers under this Article and 
    received
or became entitled to receive during an academic 
    year compensation for that employment in excess of 40% of 
    his or her highest annual earnings prior
to retirement; 
    except that compensation paid from federal, corporate, 
    foundation, or trust funds or grants of State funds that 
    identify the principal investigator by name is excluded.
        (3) The annuitant received an annualized retirement 
    annuity under this Article of at least $10,000. 
    A person who becomes an affected annuitant remains an 
affected annuitant, except for (i) any period during which the 
person returns to active service and does not receive a 
retirement annuity from the System or (ii) any period on or 
after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 100th 
General Assembly during which an annuitant received an 
annualized retirement annuity under this Article that is less 
than $10,000. 
    (c) It is the obligation of the employer to determine 
whether an annuitant is an affected annuitant before employing 
the annuitant. For that purpose the employer may require the 
annuitant to disclose and document his or her relevant prior 
employment and earnings history. Failure of the  employer to 
make this determination correctly and in a timely manner or to 
include this determination with the notification required 
under subsection (a) does not excuse the employer from making 
the contribution required under subsection (e).
    The System may assist the employer in determining whether a 
person is an affected annuitant. The System shall inform  the 
employer if it discovers that  the employer's determination is 
inconsistent with  the employment and earnings information  in 
the System's records. 
    (d) Upon the request of an annuitant, the System shall  
certify to the annuitant or the employer the following 
information as reported by the employers,  as that information 
is indicated in the records of the System: (i) the annuitant's 
highest annual earnings prior
to retirement, (ii) the 
compensation paid for that employment in each academic year, 
and (iii) whether any of that  employment or compensation has 
been certified to the System as being paid from federal, 
corporate, foundation, or trust funds or grants of State funds 
that identify the principal investigator by name. The System 
shall only be required to certify information that is received 
from the employers. 
    (e) In addition to the requirements of subsection (a), an 
employer who employs an affected annuitant must pay to the 
System an employer contribution in the amount and manner 
provided in this Section, unless the annuitant is compensated 
by that employer solely from federal, corporate, foundation, or 
trust funds or grants of State funds that identify the 
principal investigator by name.
    The  employer contribution required under this Section for 
employment of an affected annuitant in an academic year shall 
be equal to 12 times the amount of the gross monthly retirement 
annuity payable to the annuitant for the month in which the 
first paid day of that employment in that academic year occurs, 
after  any reduction in that annuity that may be imposed under 
subsection (b) of Section 15-139.
    If an affected annuitant is employed by more than one 
employer in an academic year, the employer contribution 
required under this Section shall be divided among those 
employers in proportion to their respective portions of the 
total compensation paid to the affected annuitant for that 
employment  during that academic year. 
    If the System determines that an employer, without 
reasonable justification, has failed to make the determination 
of affected annuitant status  correctly and in a timely manner, 
or has failed to notify the System or to correctly document or 
certify to the System any of the information required by this 
Section, and that failure results  in a delayed determination by 
the System that a contribution is payable under this Section, 
then the amount of that employer's  contribution otherwise 
determined under this Section shall be doubled. 
    The System shall deem a failure to correctly determine the 
annuitant's status to be justified  if the employer establishes 
to the System's satisfaction  that the employer, after due 
diligence, made an erroneous determination that the annuitant 
was not an affected annuitant due to reasonable reliance on 
false or misleading  information provided  by the annuitant or 
another employer, or  an error in the annuitant's official 
employment or earnings records. 
    (f)  Whenever the System determines that an employer is 
liable for a contribution under this Section, it shall so 
notify the employer and certify the amount of the contribution. 
The employer may pay the required contribution without interest 
at any time within one year after receipt of the certification. 
If the employer fails to pay within that year, then interest 
shall be charged at a rate equal to the System's prescribed 
rate of interest, compounded annually from the 366th day after 
receipt of the certification from the System.  Payment must be 
concluded within 2 years after receipt of the certification by 
the employer.  If the employer fails to make complete payment, 
including applicable interest,  within 2 years, then the System 
may, after giving notice to the employer, certify the 
delinquent amount to the State Comptroller, and the Comptroller 
shall thereupon deduct the certified delinquent amount from 
State funds payable to the employer and pay  them instead to the 
System. 
    (g) If an employer is required to make a contribution to 
the System as a result of employing an affected annuitant and 
the annuitant later elects to forgo his or her annuity in that 
same academic year pursuant to subsection (c) of Section 
15-139, then the required contribution by the employer shall be 
waived, and if the  contribution has already been paid, it shall 
be refunded to the employer without interest. 
    (h) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Article, 
the  employer contribution required under this Section shall not 
be included in the determination of any benefit under this 
Article or any other Article of this Code, regardless of 
whether the annuitant returns to active service, and is in 
addition to any other State or employer contribution required 
under this Article. 
    (i) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Section to 
the contrary, if an employer employs an affected annuitant in 
order to continue critical operations in the event of either an 
employee's unforeseen illness, accident, or death or a 
catastrophic incident or disaster, then, for one and only one 
academic year, the employer is not required to pay the 
contribution set forth in this Section for that annuitant. The 
employer shall, however, immediately notify the System upon 
employing a person subject to this subsection (i). For the 
purposes of this subsection (i), "critical operations" means 
teaching services, medical services,  student welfare services, 
and any other  services that are critical to the mission of the 
employer. 

    (j)  This Section shall be applied and coordinated with the 
regulatory obligations contained in the State Universities 
Civil Service Act.  This Section shall not apply to an annuitant 
if the employer of that annuitant provides documentation to the 
System that (1) the annuitant is employed in a status 
appointment position, as that term is defined in 80 Ill. Adm. 
Code 250.80, and (2) due to obligations contained under the 
State Universities Civil Service Act, the employer does not 
have the ability to limit the earnings or duration of 
employment for the annuitant while employed in the status 
appointment position. 
(Source: P.A. 97-968, eff. 8-16-12; 98-596, eff. 11-19-13; 
98-1144, eff. 6-1-15.)
 



    (40 ILCS 5/15-152)  (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 15-152)



    Sec. 15-152. Disability benefits - Duration. Disability 
benefits shall be discontinued when the earliest of the 
following
occurs:  (1) when disability ceases, (2) upon refusal

of the participant to submit to a reasonable physical

examination by a physician approved by the board, (3) upon 
refusal of
the participant to accept any position, assigned in 
good faith by an
employer, the duties of which could reasonably 
be performed by the participant
and the earnings of which would 
be at least equal to the disability benefit
payable under this 
Article, (4) upon September 1,
following the participant's 70th 
birthday,
if the disability benefit commenced prior to 
attainment of age 65, (5)
the end of the month following the 
fifth anniversary of the
date disability benefits commenced, if 
such benefits began after the
attainment of age 65, or (6) when 
the total disability
benefits paid equal 50% of the 
participant's
total earnings for the entire period of

employment for which service has been granted prior to the date

disability benefits began to accrue, or (7) upon failure of the 
participant to provide an earnings verification necessary to 
determine continuance of benefits. If the disability was caused 
by
an on-the-job accident, and the participant is granted 
workers'
compensation or occupational disease payments from 
the employer or the
State of Illinois, the limitation in clause 
(6) shall not be applicable.

    Service and earnings credits under the State Employees' 
Retirement
System of Illinois and the Teachers' Retirement 
System of the State of
Illinois shall be considered in 
determining the employee's eligibility
for, and the duration of 
disability benefits.

    If, by law, a function of a governmental unit, as
defined 
by Section 20-107 is transferred in whole or in
part to an 
employer and an employee transfers employment from the

governmental unit to such employer within 6 months after the 
transfer of
this function, the pension credits in the 
governmental unit's retirement
system which have been 
validated under
Section 20-109, shall be treated the same as 
pension credits in this Section
in determining an employee's 
eligibility
for, and the duration of disability benefits.

(Source: P.A. 86-273.)

 



    (40 ILCS 5/15-153.2)  (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 15-153.2)



    Sec. 15-153.2. Disability retirement annuity. A 
participant whose
disability benefits are discontinued under 
the provisions of clause (6) of
Section 15-152 and who is not a 
participant in the optional retirement plan
established under 
Section 15-158.2 is entitled to a disability
retirement annuity 
of 35% of the basic compensation which was payable to the

participant at the time that disability began, provided that 
the board determines that the participant has a medically 
determinable physical or
mental impairment that prevents him or 
her from
engaging in any substantial gainful activity, and 
which can be expected to
result in death or which has lasted or 
can be expected to last for a continuous
period of not less 
than 12 months.

    The board's determination of whether a participant is 
disabled shall be
based upon:


        (i) a written certificate from one or more licensed and 
    practicing
physicians appointed by or acceptable to the 
    board, stating that the
participant is unable to engage in 
    any substantial gainful activity; and


        (ii) any other medical examinations, hospital records, 
    laboratory
results, or other information necessary for 
    determining the employment
capacity and condition of the 
    participant.

    The terms "medically determinable physical or mental 
impairment" and
"substantial gainful activity" shall have the 
meanings ascribed to them in the
federal Social Security Act, 
as now or hereafter amended, and the
regulations issued 
thereunder.

    The disability retirement annuity payment period shall 
begin immediately
following the expiration of the disability 
benefit payments under clause
(6) of Section 15-152 and shall 
be discontinued for a recipient of a disability retirement 
annuity when (1) the physical or
mental impairment no longer 
prevents the recipient participant from engaging in any

substantial gainful activity, (2) the recipient participant 
dies, or (3) the recipient participant
elects to receive a 
retirement annuity under Sections 15-135 and 15-136, (4) the 
recipient refuses to submit to a reasonable physical 
examination by a physician approved by the board, or (5) the 
recipient fails to provide an earnings verification necessary 
to determine continuance of benefits.
If a person's disability 
retirement annuity is discontinued under clause
(1), all rights 
and credits accrued in the system on the date that the

disability retirement annuity began shall be restored, and the 
disability
retirement annuity paid shall be considered as 
disability payments under
clause (6) of Section 15-152.

    The board shall adopt rules governing the filing, 
investigation, control, and supervision of disability 
retirement annuity claims. Costs incurred by a claimant in 
connection with completing a claim for a disability retirement 
annuity shall be paid: (A) by the claimant in the case of the 
one required medical examination, medical certificate, and any 
other requirements generally imposed by the board on all 
disability retirement annuity claimants; and (B) by the System 
in the case of any additional medical examination or other 
additional requirement imposed on a particular claimant that is 
not imposed generally on all disability retirement annuity 
claimants.
(Source: P.A. 97-933, eff. 8-10-12; 97-968, eff. 8-16-12.)

 



    (40 ILCS 5/15-168.1)


    Sec. 15-168.1. Testimony and the production of records. The 
secretary of
the Board shall have
the power to issue subpoenas 
to compel the attendance of witnesses and the
production of 
documents and records, including law enforcement records

maintained by law enforcement agencies, in conjunction with:
        (1) the determination of employer payments required 
    under subsection (g) of Section 15-155; ,
        (2) a disability
claim; ,
        (3) an administrative review proceeding; ,
        (4) an attempt to obtain information to assist in the 
    collection of sums due to the System;
        (5) obtaining any and all personal identifying 
    information necessary for the administration of benefits;
        (6) the determination of the death of a benefit 
    recipient or a potential benefit recipient; or
        (7) a felony forfeiture investigation.
    The fees of witnesses for attendance and travel shall be 
the same as the fees
of witnesses before the circuit courts of 
this State and shall be paid by the
party seeking the subpoena.  
The Board may apply to any circuit court in the
State for an 
order requiring compliance with a subpoena issued under this

Section.  Subpoenas issued under this Section shall be subject 
to applicable
provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure.

(Source: P.A. 94-1057, eff. 7-31-06.)

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


Effective Date:  12/8/2017