August
21, 2018
To
the Honorable Members of
The
Illinois House of Representatives,
100th
General Assembly:
Today I
return House Bill 5177 from the 100th General Assembly, which clarifies an
issue in law that prohibited the transfer of service credits for Chicago police
officers who retired from prior service with the Cook County Sheriff’s
Department.
This
legislation would correct a misinterpretation of law caused by the Retirement
Board of the Policemen’s Annuity and Benefit Fund of the City of Chicago, which
in 1992 stopped crediting this group of officers for their past service. This
is a considerate approach to ensure these hardworking men and women are
recognized properly.
House
Bill 5177 needs to be balanced, however, with correct principles of due
process. As the legislation is currently written, it is not narrowly tailored
to the officers who were adversely affected by the Board’s decisions from 1992
to 2008. Instead, HB 5177 opens up for redetermination all of the
Board’s denial decisions made on these sheriff classes prior to 2008. This goes
beyond fixing the problem the legislature sought to solve and unnecessarily allows
for anyone to appeal who did not agree the Board’s proper decisions before 1992
as well.
There
should be, as much as can be achieved, finality to administrative decisions and
clarity about the rights and privileges of those who come before the State’s
boards and commissions. House Bill 5177 unnecessarily introduces uncertainty
about cases that closed before 1992. A narrow approach to resolve the obvious
and defined problem that prompted this legislation is more appropriate.
Therefore,
pursuant to Section 9(e) of Article IV of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, I
hereby return House Bill 5177, entitled “AN ACT concerning public employee
benefits,” with the following specific recommendation for change:
On
page 2, by replacing lines 16 through 19 with the following:
“civilian employee of
the department. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the board shall
reconsider an application for credit for service under this item (c) that was
submitted after January 1, 1992 and before April 1, 2008 and was denied.”
With
these changes, House Bill 5177 will have my approval. I respectfully request
your concurrence.
Sincerely,
Bruce
Rauner
GOVERNOR
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