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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The Illinois public pension systems are estimated
3to have an unfunded liability of $80 billion, and the State's
4contribution to those systems is expected to be $22 billion in
5fiscal year 2045; and
 
6    WHEREAS, The Pew Center issued a study on state pensions,
7titled "The Trillion Dollar Gap", which reported that Illinois
8has the worst funded pension systems in the nation; and
 
9    WHEREAS, Over the years, the Illinois pension systems have
10used questionable accounting and investment practices; and
 
11    WHEREAS, The State of Illinois is facing an unprecedented
12funding shortfall in all of its pension systems and is commonly
13considered the worst funded public pension systems among the 50
14states; and
 
15    WHEREAS, Former Governor Rod Blagojevich was indicted for
16corruption involving official actions pertaining to the
17Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois; and
 
18    WHEREAS, State law provides limits on Freedom of
19Information Act requests for pension data that limit the
20transparency of the pension systems of the State of Illinois;

 

 

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1and
 
2    WHEREAS, It was recently made public that the U.S.
3Securities and Exchange Commission has opened an inquiry into
4the reporting of potential pension reform savings by the
5pension systems; and
 
6    WHEREAS, The inquiry has raised questions about investment
7decisions, investment returns, and accounting techniques that
8warrant an audit of the pension systems; therefore, be it
 
9    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
10NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
11we urge the Commission on Government Forecasting and
12Accountability to competitively bid for an auditing firm to
13conduct an audit of the State Employee's Retirement System of
14Illinois, the Judges Retirement System of Illinois, the General
15Assembly Retirement System, the State Universities Retirement
16System, and the Teachers' Retirement System of the State of
17Illinois; and be it further
 
18    RESOLVED, That the firm shall look into all processes of
19the systems, including examining contracts awarded, investment
20decisions, investment returns, investment fees, trading
21commissions, accounting techniques, and any other processes
22related to the management of the funds; and be it further
 

 

 

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1    RESOLVED, That the Commission on Government Forecasting
2and Accountability report within one year after the adoption of
3this resolution to the General Assembly and Governor, and
4publish on its website, all findings, including
5recommendations on how each system can improve efficiency and
6any finding of suspected corruption; and be it further
 
7    RESOLVED, That the pension systems involved fully
8cooperate and turn over any materials requested by the auditing
9firm; and be it further
 
10    RESOLVED, That the Commission on Government Forecasting
11and Accountability begin the process of selecting an auditing
12firm as soon as possible after the adoption of this resolution
13so that an initial discovery audit will be made available
14within 2 months to the Commission on Government Forecasting and
15Accountability and the public; and be it further
 
16    RESOLVED, That the Commission on Government Forecasting
17and Accountability report quarterly on the fiscal condition of
18the pension systems, in particular: the current funding ratio,
19as projected with and without the use of 5-year asset
20smoothing; balance of assets; cash on hand; and projected
21liabilities; and be it further
 

 

 

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1    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
2delivered to the Executive Director of the Commission on
3Government Forecasting and Accountability, as well as to the
4State Employees' Retirement System of Illinois, the Judges
5Retirement System of Illinois, the General Assembly Retirement
6System, the State Universities Retirement System, and the
7Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois.