102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2021 and 2022
SB0044

 

Introduced 1/29/2021, by Sen. Robert F. Martwick

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
See Index

    Amends the State Universities Article of the Illinois Pension Code. Provides that in computing service: if a participant's first day of service begins with less than 15 days remaining in the month, the participant shall be deemed to have qualified as an employee for that entire month; and if a participant's last day of service occurs before the 15th day of the month, the participant shall be deemed to have qualified as an employee for that entire month. Provides that teaching a course or courses totaling 3 or more credit hours or lecture hours equivalent in one semester or 2 quarters shall constitute 4 months of service. Provides that the changes made by the amendatory Act are retroactive to 2 years before the effective date of the amendatory Act. Provides that a participant may request a recalculation of his or her service based on the changes made by the amendatory Act. Requires an employer to annually provide to each of its participating employees a statement of the amount of service the employer reported to the System for that participating employee during the preceding academic year. Provides that if a person disputes the amount of any benefit payment, the amount of service credit the benefit was based on, the formula used to calculate the benefit, the calculation of the benefit, or the information provided to the System by the employer, he or she may, within 90 days after the commencement of the benefit, apply to the System in writing for a recalculation. Provides that any benefit increase that results from the amendatory Act is excluded from the definition of "new benefit increase". Makes other changes. Effective immediately.


LRB102 00988 RPS 10990 b

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
PENSION IMPACT NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

SB0044LRB102 00988 RPS 10990 b

1    AN ACT concerning public employee benefits.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Illinois Pension Code is amended by
5changing Sections 15-134.1, 15-175, 15-181, 15-186.1, and
615-198 as follows:
 
7    (40 ILCS 5/15-134.1)  (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 15-134.1)
8    Sec. 15-134.1. Service calculation and adjustment.
9    (a) In computing service, the following schedule shall
10govern: one month of service means a calendar month during
11which a participant (i) qualifies as an employee under Section
1215-107 for at least 15 or more days, and (ii) receives any
13earnings as an employee; 8 or more months of service during an
14academic year shall constitute a year of service; 6 or more but
15less than 8 months of service during an academic year shall
16constitute 3/4 of a year of service; 3 or more but less than 6
17months of service during an academic year shall constitute 1/2
18of a year of service; and one or more but less than 3 months of
19service during an academic year shall constitute 1/4 of a year
20of service. In computing service: if a participant's first day
21of service begins with less than 15 days remaining in the
22month, the participant shall be deemed to have qualified as an
23employee for that entire month; and if a participant's last

 

 

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1day of service occurs before the 15th day of the month, the
2participant shall be deemed to have qualified as an employee
3for that entire month. No more than one year of service may be
4granted per academic year, regardless of the number of hours
5or percentage of time worked.
6    (a-5) Notwithstanding subsection (a), teaching a course or
7courses totaling 3 or more credit hours or lecture hours
8equivalent in one semester or 2 quarters shall constitute 4
9months of service, regardless of the number of hours worked or
10whether the dates on which the person taught the course
11equaled 4 months. If the application of this subsection would
12result in a lesser benefit to a participant, then this
13subsection does not apply. No more than one year of service may
14be granted per academic year, regardless of the number of
15hours or percentage of time worked or the number of credit
16hours or lecture hours equivalent taught.
17    (b) In calculating a retirement annuity, if a participant
18has been employed at 1/2 time or less for 3 or more years after
19September 1, 1959, service shall be granted for such
20employment in excess of 3 years, in the proportion that the
21percentage of time employed for each such year of employment
22bears to the average annual percentage of time employed during
23the period on which the final rate of earnings is based. This
24adjustment shall not be made, however, in determining the
25eligibility for a retirement annuity, disability benefits,
26additional death benefits, or survivors' insurance. The

 

 

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1percentage of time employed shall be as reported by the
2employer.
3    (c) The changes made by this amendatory Act of the 102nd
4General Assembly apply retroactively to 2 years before the
5effective date of this amendatory Act of the 102nd General
6Assembly. A participant may request that the System
7recalculate his or her service based on the changes made by
8this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly.
9(Source: P.A. 87-8.)
 
10    (40 ILCS 5/15-175)  (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 15-175)
11    Sec. 15-175. To provide statements.
12    To make available to the participants and annuitants a
13financial statement including a summary of the report of the
14certified public accountant; and to submit an individual
15statement specifying the accumulations to the credit, as of
16the latest date practicable, of any participant so requesting;
17and to annually provide the formula for calculating pension
18benefits to any employee who is not a full-time employee.
19(Source: Laws 1963, p. 161.)
 
20    (40 ILCS 5/15-181)  (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 15-181)
21    Sec. 15-181. Duties of employers.
22    (a) Each employer, in preparing payroll vouchers for
23participating employees, shall indicate, in addition to other
24information: (1) the amount of employee contributions and

 

 

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1survivors insurance contributions required under Section
215-157, (2) the gross earnings payable to each employee, and
3(3) the total of all contributions required under Section
415-157.
5    (b) Each employer, in drawing warrants or checks against
6trust or federal funds for items of salary on payroll vouchers
7certified by employers, shall draw such warrants or checks to
8participating employees for the amount of cash salary or wages
9specified for the period, and shall draw a warrant or check to
10this system for the total of the contributions required under
11Section 15-157. The warrant or check drawn to this system,
12together with the additional copy of the payroll supplied by
13the employer, shall be transmitted immediately to the board.
14    (c) The City of Champaign and the City of Urbana, as
15employers of persons who participate in this System pursuant
16to subsection (h) of Section 15-107, shall each collect and
17transmit to the System from each payroll the employee
18contributions required under Section 15-157, together with
19such payroll documentation as the Board may require, at the
20time that the payroll is paid.
21    (d) Each employer shall annually provide to its
22participating employees a statement of the amount of service
23the employer reported to the System for that participating
24employee during the preceding academic year.
25(Source: P.A. 90-576, eff. 3-31-98; 91-887, eff. 7-6-00.)
 

 

 

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1    (40 ILCS 5/15-186.1)  (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 15-186.1)
2    Sec. 15-186.1. Mistake in benefit. If the System
3mistakenly sets any benefit at an incorrect amount, it shall
4recalculate the benefit as soon as may be practicable after
5the mistake is discovered.
6    If the benefit was mistakenly set too low, the System
7shall make a lump sum payment to the recipient of an amount
8equal to the difference between the benefits that should have
9been paid and those actually paid, plus interest at the
10effective rate from the date the unpaid amounts accrued to the
11date of payment.
12    If the benefit was mistakenly set too high, the System may
13recover the amount overpaid from the recipient thereof, plus
14interest at the effective rate from the date of overpayment to
15the date of recovery, either directly or by deducting such
16amount from the remaining benefits payable to the recipient.
17However, if (1) the amount of the benefit was mistakenly set
18too high, and (2) the error was undiscovered for 3 years or
19longer, and (3) the error was not the result of incorrect
20information supplied by the affected member or beneficiary,
21then upon discovery of the mistake the benefit shall be
22adjusted to the correct level, but the recipient of the
23benefit need not repay to the System the excess amounts
24received in error.
25    If a person disputes the amount of any benefit payment,
26the amount of service credit the benefit was based on, the

 

 

SB0044- 6 -LRB102 00988 RPS 10990 b

1formula used to calculate the benefit, the calculation of the
2benefit, or the information provided to the System by the
3employer, he or she may, within 90 days after the commencement
4of the benefit, apply to the System in writing for a
5recalculation.
6(Source: P.A. 93-347, eff. 7-24-03.)
 
7    (40 ILCS 5/15-198)
8    Sec. 15-198. Application and expiration of new benefit
9increases.
10    (a) As used in this Section, "new benefit increase" means
11an increase in the amount of any benefit provided under this
12Article, or an expansion of the conditions of eligibility for
13any benefit under this Article, that results from an amendment
14to this Code that takes effect after June 1, 2005 (the
15effective date of Public Act 94-4). "New benefit increase",
16however, does not include any benefit increase resulting from
17the changes made to Article 1 or this Article by Public Act
18100-23, Public Act 100-587, Public Act 100-769, Public Act
19101-10, Public Act 101-610, or this amendatory Act of the
20102nd General Assembly this amendatory Act of the 101st
21General Assembly.
22    (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Code or
23any subsequent amendment to this Code, every new benefit
24increase is subject to this Section and shall be deemed to be
25granted only in conformance with and contingent upon

 

 

SB0044- 7 -LRB102 00988 RPS 10990 b

1compliance with the provisions of this Section.
2    (c) The Public Act enacting a new benefit increase must
3identify and provide for payment to the System of additional
4funding at least sufficient to fund the resulting annual
5increase in cost to the System as it accrues.
6    Every new benefit increase is contingent upon the General
7Assembly providing the additional funding required under this
8subsection. The Commission on Government Forecasting and
9Accountability shall analyze whether adequate additional
10funding has been provided for the new benefit increase and
11shall report its analysis to the Public Pension Division of
12the Department of Insurance. A new benefit increase created by
13a Public Act that does not include the additional funding
14required under this subsection is null and void. If the Public
15Pension Division determines that the additional funding
16provided for a new benefit increase under this subsection is
17or has become inadequate, it may so certify to the Governor and
18the State Comptroller and, in the absence of corrective action
19by the General Assembly, the new benefit increase shall expire
20at the end of the fiscal year in which the certification is
21made.
22    (d) Every new benefit increase shall expire 5 years after
23its effective date or on such earlier date as may be specified
24in the language enacting the new benefit increase or provided
25under subsection (c). This does not prevent the General
26Assembly from extending or re-creating a new benefit increase

 

 

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1by law.
2    (e) Except as otherwise provided in the language creating
3the new benefit increase, a new benefit increase that expires
4under this Section continues to apply to persons who applied
5and qualified for the affected benefit while the new benefit
6increase was in effect and to the affected beneficiaries and
7alternate payees of such persons, but does not apply to any
8other person, including, without limitation, a person who
9continues in service after the expiration date and did not
10apply and qualify for the affected benefit while the new
11benefit increase was in effect.
12(Source: P.A. 100-23, eff. 7-6-17; 100-587, eff. 6-4-18;
13100-769, eff. 8-10-18; 101-10, eff. 6-5-19; 101-81, eff.
147-12-19; 101-610, eff. 1-1-20.)
 
15    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
16becoming law.

 

 

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1 INDEX
2 Statutes amended in order of appearance
3    40 ILCS 5/15-134.1from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 15-134.1
4    40 ILCS 5/15-175from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 15-175
5    40 ILCS 5/15-181from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 15-181
6    40 ILCS 5/15-186.1from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 15-186.1
7    40 ILCS 5/15-198