HB3435 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB095 09728 AMC 31817 b

95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2007 and 2008
HB3435

Introduced 2/27/2007, by Rep. William B. Black

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

40 ILCS 5/14-104	from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 14-104
40 ILCS 5/15-113.3	from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 15-113.3

Amends the State Employees and State Universities of the Illinois Pension Code. Provides that from the effective date until 120 days after the effective date, a person may establish service credit for certain military service without paying the required interest. Provides that the changes do not entitle any person to a refund of contributions or interest already paid. Effective immediately.

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

PENSION IMPACT NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

A BILL FOR

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 14-104 and 15-113.3 as follows:

(40 ILCS 5/14-104) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 14-104)

Sec. 14-104. Service for which contributions permitted. Contributions provided for in this Section shall cover the period of service granted. Except as otherwise provided in this Section, the contributions shall be based upon the employee's compensation and contribution rate in effect on the date he last became a member of the System; provided that for all employment prior to January 1, 1969 the contribution rate shall be that in effect for a noncovered employee on the date he last became a member of the System. Except as otherwise provided in this Section, contributions permitted under this Section shall include regular interest from the date an employee last became a member of the System to the date of payment.

These contributions must be paid in full before retirement either in a lump sum or in installment payments in accordance with such rules as may be adopted by the board.

(a) Any member may make contributions as required in this Section for any period of service, subsequent to the date of establishment, but prior to the date of membership.

(b) Any employee who had been previously excluded from membership because of age at entry and subsequently became eligible may elect to make contributions as required in this Section for the period of service during which he was ineligible.

(c) An employee of the Department of Insurance who, after January 1, 1944 but prior to becoming eligible for membership, received salary from funds of insurance companies in the process of rehabilitation, liquidation, conservation or dissolution, may elect to make contributions as required in this Section for such service.

(d) Any employee who rendered service in a State office to which he was elected, or rendered service in the elective office of Clerk of the Appellate Court prior to the date he became a member, may make contributions for such service as required in this Section. Any member who served by appointment of the Governor under the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois and did not participate in this System may make contributions as required in this Section for such service.

(e) Any person employed by the United States government or any instrumentality or agency thereof from January 1, 1942 through November 15, 1946 as the result of a transfer from State service by executive order of the President of the United States shall be entitled to prior service credit covering the period from January 1, 1942 through December 31, 1943 as provided for in this Article and to membership service credit for the period from January 1, 1944 through November 15, 1946 by making the contributions required in this Section. A person so employed on January 1, 1944 but whose employment began after January 1, 1942 may qualify for prior service and membership service credit under the same conditions.

(f) An employee of the Department of Labor of the State of Illinois who performed services for and under the supervision of that Department prior to January 1, 1944 but who was compensated for those services directly by federal funds and not by a warrant of the Auditor of Public Accounts paid by the State Treasurer may establish credit for such employment by making the contributions required in this Section. An employee of the Department of Agriculture of the State of Illinois, who performed services for and under the supervision of that Department prior to June 1, 1963, but was compensated for those services directly by federal funds and not paid by a warrant of the Auditor of Public Accounts paid by the State Treasurer, and who did not contribute to any other public employee retirement system for such service, may establish credit for such employment by making the contributions required in this Section.

(g) Any employee who executed a waiver of membership within 60 days prior to January 1, 1944 may, at any time while in the service of a department, file with the board a rescission of such waiver. Upon making the contributions required by this Section, the member shall be granted the creditable service that would have been received if the waiver had not been executed.

(h) Until May 1, 1990, an employee who was employed on a full-time basis by a regional planning commission for at least 5 continuous years may establish creditable service for such employment by making the contributions required under this Section, provided that any credits earned by the employee in the commission's retirement plan have been terminated.

(i) Any person who rendered full time contractual services to the General Assembly as a member of a legislative staff may establish service credit for up to 8 years of such services by making the contributions required under this Section, provided that application therefor is made not later than July 1, 1991.

(j) By paying the contributions otherwise required under this Section, plus an amount determined by the Board to be equal to the employer's normal cost of the benefit plus interest, but with all of the interest calculated from the date the employee last became a member of the System or November 19, 1991, whichever is later, to the date of payment, an employee may establish service credit for a period of up to 2 years spent in active military service for which he does not qualify for credit under Section 14-105, provided that (1) he was not dishonorably discharged from such military service, and (2) the amount of service credit established by a member under this subsection (j), when added to the amount of military service credit granted to the member under subsection (b) of Section 14-105, shall not exceed 5 years. The change in the manner of calculating interest under this subsection (j) made by this amendatory Act of the 92nd General Assembly applies to credit purchased by an employee on or after its effective date and does not entitle any person to a refund of contributions or interest already paid. From the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly until 120 days after that effective date, a person may establish service credit under this subsection (j) without paying the interest required under this subsection (j). The changes made to this subsection (j) by this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly do not entitle any person to a refund of contributions or interest already paid.

(k) An employee who was employed on a full-time basis by the Illinois State's Attorneys Association Statewide Appellate Assistance Service LEAA-ILEC grant project prior to the time that project became the State's Attorneys Appellate Service Commission, now the Office of the State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor, an agency of State government, may establish creditable service for not more than 60 months service for such employment by making contributions required under this Section.

(l) By paying the contributions otherwise required under this Section, plus an amount determined by the Board to be equal to the employer's normal cost of the benefit plus interest, a member may establish service credit for periods of less than one year spent on authorized leave of absence from service, provided that (1) the period of leave began on or after January 1, 1982 and (2) any credit established by the member for the period of leave in any other public employee retirement system has been terminated. A member may establish service credit under this subsection for more than one period of authorized leave, and in that case the total period of service credit established by the member under this subsection may exceed one year. In determining the contributions required for establishing service credit under this subsection, the interest shall be calculated from the beginning of the leave of absence to the date of payment.

(m) Any person who rendered contractual services to a member of the General Assembly as a worker in the member's district office may establish creditable service for up to 3 years of those contractual services by making the contributions required under this Section. The System shall determine a full-time salary equivalent for the purpose of calculating the required contribution. To establish credit under this subsection, the applicant must apply to the System by March 1, 1998.

(n) Any person who rendered contractual services to a member of the General Assembly as a worker providing constituent services to persons in the member's district may establish creditable service for up to 8 years of those contractual services by making the contributions required under this Section. The System shall determine a full-time salary equivalent for the purpose of calculating the required contribution. To establish credit under this subsection, the applicant must apply to the System by March 1, 1998.

(o) A member who participated in the Illinois Legislative Staff Internship Program may establish creditable service for up to one year of that participation by making the contribution required under this Section. The System shall determine a full-time salary equivalent for the purpose of calculating the required contribution. Credit may not be established under this subsection for any period for which service credit is established under any other provision of this Code.

(p) By paying the contributions otherwise required under this Section, plus an amount determined by the Board to be equal to the employer's normal cost of the benefit plus interest, a member may establish service credit for a period of up to 8 years during which he or she was employed by the Visually Handicapped Managers of Illinois in a vending program operated under a contractual agreement with the Department of Rehabilitation Services or its successor agency.

This subsection (p) applies without regard to whether the person was in service on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 94th General Assembly. In the case of a person who is receiving a retirement annuity on that effective date, the increase, if any, shall begin to accrue on the first annuity payment date following receipt by the System of the contributions required under this subsection (p).

(Source: P.A. 94-612, eff. 8-18-05.)

(40 ILCS 5/15-113.3) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 15-113.3)

Sec. 15-113.3. Service for periods of military service. "Service for periods of military service": Those periods, not exceeding 5 years, during which a person served in the armed forces of the United States, of which all but 2 years must have immediately followed a period of employment with an employer under this System or the State Employees' Retirement System of Illinois; provided that the person received a discharge other than dishonorable and again became an employee under this System within one year after discharge. However, for the up to 2 years of military service not immediately following employment, the applicant must make contributions to the System equal to (1) 8% of the employee's basic compensation on the last date as a participating employee prior to such military service, or on the first date as a participating employee after such military service, whichever is greater, plus (2) an amount determined by the board to be equal to the employer's normal cost of the benefits accrued for such military service, plus (3) interest on items (1) and (2) at the effective rate from the later of the date of first membership in the System or the date of conclusion of military service to the date of payment. The change in the required contribution for purchased military credit made by this amendatory Act of 1993 does not entitle any person to a refund of contributions already paid. From the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly until 120 days after that effective date, a person may establish service credit under this Section without paying the interest required under this item (3) of this Section. The changes made to this Section by this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly do not entitle any person to a refund of contributions or interest already paid. The contributions paid under this Section are not normal contributions as defined in Section 15-114 or additional contributions as defined in Section 15-115.

The changes to this Section made by this amendatory Act of 1991 shall apply not only to persons who on or after its effective date are in service under the System, but also to persons whose employment terminated prior to that date, whether or not the person is an annuitant on that date. In the case of an annuitant who applies for credit allowable under this Section for a period of military service that did not immediately follow employment, and who has made the required contributions for such credit, the annuity shall be recalculated to include the additional service credit, with the increase taking effect on the date the System received written notification of the annuitant's intent to purchase the credit, if payment of all the required contributions is made within 60 days of such notice, or else on the first annuity payment date following the date of payment of the required contributions. In calculating the automatic annual increase for an annuity that has been recalculated under this Section, the increase attributable to the additional service allowable under this amendatory Act of 1991 shall be included in the calculation of automatic annual increases accruing after the effective date of the recalculation.

(Source: P.A. 93-347, eff. 7-24-03.)

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