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1 | AN ACT in relation to public employee benefits.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, | ||||||
3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The Illinois Pension Code is amended by changing | ||||||
5 | Section 16-149 as follows:
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6 | (40 ILCS 5/16-149) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 16-149)
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7 | Sec. 16-149. Disability benefit.
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8 | (a) A disability benefit is payable to a member who was in | ||||||
9 | active
service on or after June 30, 1977 and has at least 3 | ||||||
10 | years of creditable
service. Part-time and substitute teachers | ||||||
11 | who are in active service on or
after July 1, 1990 must have | ||||||
12 | worked as a teacher for at least 340 hours in
either the school | ||||||
13 | year in which the disability occurs or in the preceding
school | ||||||
14 | year.
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15 | The benefit is payable upon application of a member who is | ||||||
16 | not
receiving a benefit under either Section 16-133, Section | ||||||
17 | 16-149.1
or Section 16-149.2. The benefit shall be granted only | ||||||
18 | if the member is
found by medical examination to be | ||||||
19 | incapacitated to perform the duties of
his or her position as a | ||||||
20 | teacher and only if the commencement of the
incapacity occurred | ||||||
21 | while the member was employed as a teacher or within
90 days of | ||||||
22 | such employment.
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23 | A member shall be considered disabled only when the System | ||||||
24 | has received
(1) a written certificate by at least 2 licensed | ||||||
25 | and practicing physicians
designated by the System, certifying | ||||||
26 | that the member is disabled and unable
to properly perform the | ||||||
27 | duties of his or her position at the time of
disability, except | ||||||
28 | in the case of disability due to pregnancy where a
written | ||||||
29 | certificate from only one licensed and practicing physician is
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30 | required; (2) a written statement from the employer certifying | ||||||
31 | that the member
is not eligible to receive a salary; and (3) a | ||||||
32 | certification from the member
that he or she is not and has not |
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1 | been engaged in gainful employment
during the period of | ||||||
2 | disability.
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3 | The benefit shall begin to accrue on the 31st day of | ||||||
4 | absence from service
on account of disability, except that when | ||||||
5 | an application is made more than
90 days subsequent to the | ||||||
6 | later of the commencement of disability or the
date eligibility | ||||||
7 | for salary ceases, it shall begin to accrue from the date
of | ||||||
8 | application, and shall be payable during the time the member | ||||||
9 | does not
receive a retirement annuity. The benefit is not | ||||||
10 | payable to a member who
is receiving or has a right to receive | ||||||
11 | any salary as a teacher, or is employed
in any capacity as a | ||||||
12 | teacher by the employers included under this System or in
an | ||||||
13 | equivalent capacity in any other public or private school, | ||||||
14 | college or
university.
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15 | Service credits under the State Employees' Retirement | ||||||
16 | System of
Illinois, the State Universities Retirement System , | ||||||
17 | the Public School Teachers' Pension and Retirement Fund of | ||||||
18 | Chicago, and the Illinois
Municipal Retirement Fund shall be | ||||||
19 | considered in determining the member's
eligibility for a | ||||||
20 | disability benefit and the total period during which the
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21 | disability benefit is payable.
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22 | (b) The disability benefit shall be 40% of the greater of | ||||||
23 | the
member's most recent annual contract salary rate at the | ||||||
24 | time the disability
benefit becomes payable or the member's | ||||||
25 | annual contract rate on the date the
disability commenced. | ||||||
26 | Prior to July 1, 1990, if the most recent period of
service of | ||||||
27 | any member was rendered on a less than full-time but not less
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28 | than half-time basis, the amount of the disability benefit | ||||||
29 | payable to such
member shall be computed on the basis of the | ||||||
30 | salary received by such member
for the member's last year of | ||||||
31 | service on a full-time basis if such salary
was greater than | ||||||
32 | the member's most recent salary. For part-time and
substitute | ||||||
33 | members after June 30, 1990, the disability benefit shall be | ||||||
34 | 40% of
the greater of the member's most recent annualized | ||||||
35 | salary rate at the time the
disability benefit becomes payable | ||||||
36 | or the annualized salary rate or contract
salary rate at the |
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1 | time the disability commenced.
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2 | In addition to the above benefit, the member shall receive | ||||||
3 | creditable
service and credit for contributions that the member | ||||||
4 | would have made in
active employment during any period of | ||||||
5 | disability for which benefits
are paid by the System on the | ||||||
6 | basis of the annual salary rate used in
computing the benefit.
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7 | (c) Effective January 1, 1988, the disability benefit shall | ||||||
8 | continue
until the time one of the following events first | ||||||
9 | occurs: (1) disability
ceases; (2) the member requests | ||||||
10 | termination of the benefit; (3) the
aggregate period for which | ||||||
11 | disability payments made during the member's
entire period of | ||||||
12 | service equals 1/4 of the total period of creditable
service, | ||||||
13 | not including the time he or she has received the disability
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14 | payments; or (4) the member is engaged or found to be able to | ||||||
15 | engage in
gainful employment. If the disability benefit is | ||||||
16 | discontinued under item
(4) but the member is subsequently | ||||||
17 | found to be unable to be gainfully
employed due to the | ||||||
18 | disability which was the cause for his or her most
recent | ||||||
19 | incapacity to perform the duties of a teacher, the disability
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20 | benefit will be resumed, upon notification of the System, as | ||||||
21 | soon as the
member is not eligible to receive salary.
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22 | A disabled member who receives disability benefits for the | ||||||
23 | maximum period
specified above or who requests that the | ||||||
24 | disability benefits be terminated
may be retired on a | ||||||
25 | disability retirement annuity.
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26 | (d) The board shall prescribe rules governing the filing, | ||||||
27 | investigation,
control, and supervision of disability claims. | ||||||
28 | The rules shall include
specific standards to be used when | ||||||
29 | requesting additional medical
examinations, hospital records | ||||||
30 | or other data necessary for determining the
employment capacity | ||||||
31 | and condition of the member. Costs incurred by a
claimant in | ||||||
32 | connection with completing a claim for disability benefits
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33 | shall be paid by the claimant.
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34 | (Source: P.A. 86-272; 86-273; 86-1028; 87-794; 87-1265.)
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35 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon |
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1 | becoming law. |