Full Text of HB2654 99th General Assembly
HB2654 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2015 and 2016 HB2654 Introduced , by Rep. Kathleen Willis SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
| 40 ILCS 5/3-110.12 new | |
40 ILCS 5/4-108 | from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 4-108 |
30 ILCS 805/8.39 new | |
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Amends the Illinois Pension Code. Authorizes an active member of a downstate firefighters' pension fund to transfer up to 6 years of creditable service to that fund from the downstate police pension fund that is administered by the same unit of local government. Requires application within 6 months after the effective date. Authorizes reinstatement of service that was
terminated by a refund. Provides that if the transferred police service was Tier 1, then the firefighter shall be considered to be a Tier 1 firefighter. Amends the State Mandates Act to require implementation without reimbursement. Effective immediately.
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| | FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY | PENSION IMPACT NOTE ACT MAY APPLY | STATE MANDATES ACT MAY REQUIRE REIMBURSEMENT |
| | A BILL FOR |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning public employee benefits.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 5. The Illinois Pension Code is amended by changing | 5 | | Section 4-108 and by adding Section 3-110.12 as follows: | 6 | | (40 ILCS 5/3-110.12 new) | 7 | | Sec. 3-110.12. Transfer to Article 4 fund. | 8 | | (a) At any time during the
6 months following the effective | 9 | | date of this Section, an active member of an Article 4 | 10 | | firefighters' pension fund may apply for transfer to that fund | 11 | | of up to 6 years of his or her creditable service accumulated
| 12 | | in the police pension fund under this Article that is | 13 | | administered by the same unit of local government. The | 14 | | creditable service shall be transferred upon payment by
the | 15 | | police pension fund to the Article 4 fund of an amount
equal | 16 | | to: | 17 | | (1) the amounts accumulated to the credit of the | 18 | | applicant on the books
of the fund on the date of transfer | 19 | | for the service to be transferred; and | 20 | | (2) employer contributions in an amount equal to the | 21 | | amount determined
under item (1); and | 22 | | (3) any interest paid by the applicant in order to | 23 | | reinstate service. |
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| 1 | | Participation in the police pension fund with respect to | 2 | | the transferred creditable service shall terminate on the date | 3 | | of transfer. | 4 | | (b) At the time of applying for transfer of creditable | 5 | | service under this Section, an active member of an Article 4 | 6 | | firefighters' pension fund may, for the purpose of that | 7 | | transfer, reinstate creditable service that was
terminated by | 8 | | receipt of a refund, by payment to the police pension fund of | 9 | | the
amount of the refund with interest thereon at the rate of | 10 | | 6% per year,
compounded annually, from the date of the refund | 11 | | to the date of payment.
| 12 | | (40 ILCS 5/4-108) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 4-108)
| 13 | | Sec. 4-108. Creditable service.
| 14 | | (a) Creditable service is the time served as a firefighter | 15 | | of a
municipality. In computing creditable service, furloughs | 16 | | and leaves of
absence without pay exceeding 30 days in any one | 17 | | year shall not be counted,
but leaves of absence for illness or | 18 | | accident regardless of length, and
periods of disability for | 19 | | which a firefighter received no disability
pension payments | 20 | | under this Article, shall be counted.
| 21 | | (b) Furloughs and leaves of absence of 30 days or less in | 22 | | any one year may
be counted as creditable service, if the | 23 | | firefighter makes the contribution
to the fund that would have | 24 | | been required had he or she not been
on furlough or leave of | 25 | | absence. To qualify for this creditable service,
the |
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| 1 | | firefighter must pay the required contributions to the fund not | 2 | | more
than 90 days subsequent to the termination of the furlough | 3 | | or leave of
absence, to the extent that the municipality has | 4 | | not made such contribution
on his or her behalf.
| 5 | | (c) Creditable service includes:
| 6 | | (1) Service in the military, naval or air forces of the
| 7 | | United States entered upon when the person was an active
| 8 | | firefighter, provided
that, upon applying for a permanent | 9 | | pension, and in accordance with the
rules of the board the | 10 | | firefighter pays into the fund the amount that would
have | 11 | | been contributed had he or she been a regular contributor | 12 | | during such
period of service, if and to the extent that | 13 | | the municipality which the
firefighter served made no such | 14 | | contributions in his or her behalf. The
total amount of | 15 | | such creditable service shall not exceed 5 years, except
| 16 | | that any firefighter who on July 1, 1973 had more than 5 | 17 | | years of such
creditable service shall receive the total | 18 | | amount thereof as of that date.
| 19 | | (1.5) Up to 24 months of service in the military, | 20 | | naval, or air forces of the United States that was served | 21 | | prior to employment by a municipality or fire protection | 22 | | district as a firefighter. To receive the credit for the | 23 | | military service prior to the employment as a firefighter, | 24 | | the firefighter must apply in writing to the fund and must | 25 | | make contributions to the fund equal to (i) the employee | 26 | | contributions that would have been required had the service |
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| 1 | | been rendered as a member, plus (ii) an amount determined | 2 | | by the fund to be equal to the employer's normal cost of | 3 | | the benefits accrued for that military service, plus (iii) | 4 | | interest at the actuarially assumed rate provided by the | 5 | | Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, | 6 | | compounded annually from the first date of membership in | 7 | | the fund to the date of payment on items (i) and (ii). The | 8 | | changes to this paragraph (1.5) by this amendatory Act of | 9 | | the 95th General Assembly apply only to participating | 10 | | employees in service on or after its effective date.
| 11 | | (2) Service prior to July 1, 1976 by a firefighter | 12 | | initially excluded
from participation by reason of age who | 13 | | elected to participate and paid
the required contributions | 14 | | for such service.
| 15 | | (3) Up to 8 years of service by a firefighter as an | 16 | | officer in a statewide
firefighters' association when he is | 17 | | on a leave of absence from a
municipality's payroll, | 18 | | provided that (i) the firefighter has at least 10
years of | 19 | | creditable service as an active firefighter, (ii) the | 20 | | firefighter
contributes to the fund the amount that he | 21 | | would have contributed had he
remained an active member of | 22 | | the fund, (iii) the employee or statewide
firefighter | 23 | | association contributes to the fund an amount equal to the
| 24 | | employer's required contribution as determined by the | 25 | | board, and (iv) for all leaves of absence under this | 26 | | subdivision (3), including those beginning before the |
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| 1 | | effective date of this amendatory Act of the 97th General | 2 | | Assembly, the firefighter continues to remain in sworn | 3 | | status, subject to the professional standards of the public | 4 | | employer or those terms established in statute.
| 5 | | (4) Time spent as an on-call fireman for a | 6 | | municipality,
calculated at the rate of one year of | 7 | | creditable service for each 5 years
of time spent as an | 8 | | on-call fireman, provided that (i) the firefighter has
at | 9 | | least 18 years of creditable service as an active | 10 | | firefighter, (ii) the
firefighter spent at least 14 years | 11 | | as an on-call firefighter for the
municipality, (iii) the | 12 | | firefighter applies for such creditable service
within 30 | 13 | | days after the effective date of this amendatory Act of | 14 | | 1989,
(iv) the firefighter contributes to the Fund an | 15 | | amount representing
employee contributions for the number | 16 | | of years of creditable service
granted under this | 17 | | subdivision (4), based on the salary and contribution
rate | 18 | | in effect for the firefighter at the date of entry into the | 19 | | Fund, to
be determined by the board, and (v) not more than | 20 | | 3 years of creditable
service may be granted under this | 21 | | subdivision (4).
| 22 | | Except as provided in Section 4-108.5, creditable | 23 | | service shall not
include time
spent as a volunteer | 24 | | firefighter, whether or not any compensation was received
| 25 | | therefor. The change made in this Section by Public Act | 26 | | 83-0463 is intended
to be a restatement and clarification |
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| 1 | | of existing law, and does not imply
that creditable service | 2 | | was previously allowed under this Article for time
spent as | 3 | | a volunteer firefighter.
| 4 | | (5) Time served between July 1, 1976 and July 1, 1988 | 5 | | in
the position of protective inspection officer or | 6 | | administrative assistant
for fire services, for a | 7 | | municipality with a population under 10,000 that is
located | 8 | | in a county with a population over 3,000,000 and that | 9 | | maintains a
firefighters' pension fund under this Article, | 10 | | if the position included
firefighting duties, | 11 | | notwithstanding that the person may not have held an
| 12 | | appointment as a firefighter, provided that application is | 13 | | made to the
pension fund within 30 days after the effective | 14 | | date of this amendatory Act
of 1991, and the corresponding | 15 | | contributions are paid for the number of
years of service | 16 | | granted, based upon the salary and contribution rate in
| 17 | | effect for the firefighter at the date of entry into the | 18 | | pension fund, as
determined by the Board.
| 19 | | (6) Service before becoming a participant by a | 20 | | firefighter initially
excluded from participation by | 21 | | reason of age who becomes a participant
under the amendment | 22 | | to Section 4-107 made by this amendatory Act of 1993 and
| 23 | | pays the required contributions for such service.
| 24 | | (7) Up to 3 years of time during which the firefighter | 25 | | receives a
disability pension under Section 4-110, | 26 | | 4-110.1, or 4-111, provided that (i)
the firefighter |
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| 1 | | returns to active service after the disability for a period | 2 | | at
least equal to the period for which credit is to be | 3 | | established and (ii) the
firefighter makes contributions | 4 | | to the fund based on the rates specified in
Section 4-118.1 | 5 | | and the salary upon which the disability pension is based.
| 6 | | These contributions may be paid at any time prior to the | 7 | | commencement of a
retirement pension. The firefighter may, | 8 | | but need not, elect to have the
contributions deducted from | 9 | | the disability pension or to pay them in
installments on a | 10 | | schedule approved by the board. If not deducted from the
| 11 | | disability pension, the contributions
shall include | 12 | | interest at the rate of 6% per year, compounded annually, | 13 | | from
the date for which service credit is being established | 14 | | to the date of payment.
If contributions are paid under | 15 | | this subdivision (c)(7) in excess of those
needed to | 16 | | establish the credit, the excess shall be refunded. This
| 17 | | subdivision (c)(7) applies to persons receiving a | 18 | | disability pension under
Section 4-110, 4-110.1, or 4-111 | 19 | | on the effective date of this amendatory Act
of the 91st | 20 | | General Assembly, as well as persons who begin to receive | 21 | | such a
disability pension after that date.
| 22 | | (8) Up to 6 years of service as a police officer and | 23 | | participant in an Article 3 police pension fund | 24 | | administered by the unit of local government that employs | 25 | | the firefighter under this Article, provided that the | 26 | | service has been transferred to, and the required payment |
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| 1 | | received by, the Article 4 fund in accordance with Section | 2 | | 3-110.12 of this Code. If a firefighter who establishes | 3 | | creditable service under this item (8) first became a | 4 | | police officer and participant in the Article 3 fund before | 5 | | January 1, 2011, then for the purposes of this Article the | 6 | | firefighter shall be considered to be a person who first | 7 | | became a firefighter under this Article before January 1, | 8 | | 2011. | 9 | | (Source: P.A. 97-651, eff. 1-5-12.)
| 10 | | Section 90. The State Mandates Act is amended by adding | 11 | | Section 8.39 as follows: | 12 | | (30 ILCS 805/8.39 new) | 13 | | Sec. 8.39. Exempt mandate. Notwithstanding Sections 6 and 8 | 14 | | of this Act, no reimbursement by the State is required for the | 15 | | implementation of any mandate created by this amendatory Act of | 16 | | the 99th General Assembly.
| 17 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 18 | | becoming law.
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