SB2022 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB094 11169 AMC 41822 b

94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2005 and 2006
SB2022

Introduced 2/25/2005, by Sen. David Luechtefeld

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

40 ILCS 5/7-152

from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 7-152

Amends the IMRF Article of the Illinois Pension Code. Provides that, if the Board does not make the reduction while the employee's eligibility is being determined and the participating employee is successful in attaining retroactive disability benefits from Social Security, then the employee must pay the retroactive Social Security benefit directly to the Fund for reimbursement of the disability benefits received during the Social Security appeals process as required by Board rule. Effective immediately.

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 Section 7-152 as follows:

(40 ILCS 5/7-152) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 7-152)

Sec. 7-152. Disability benefits - Amount. The amount of the monthly temporary and total and permanent disability benefits shall be 50% of the participating employee's final rate of earnings on the date disability was incurred, subject to the following adjustments:

(a) If the participating employee has a reduced rate of earnings at the time his employment ceases because of disability, the rate of earnings shall be computed on the basis of his last 12 month period of full-time employment.

(b) If the participating employee is eligible for a disability benefit under the federal Social Security Act, the amount of monthly disability benefits shall be reduced, but not to less than $10 a month, by the amount he would be eligible to receive as a disability benefit under the federal Social Security Act, whether or not because of service as a covered employee under this Article. The reduction shall be effective as of the month the employee is eligible for Social Security disability benefits. The Board may make such reduction if it appears that the employee may be so eligible pending determination of eligibility and make an appropriate adjustment if necessary after such determination. If the Board does not make the reduction while the employee's eligibility is being determined and the participating employee is successful in attaining retroactive disability benefits from Social Security, then the employee must pay the retroactive Social Security benefit directly to the Fund for reimbursement of the disability benefits received during the Social Security appeals process as required by Board rule. If the employee, because of his refusal to accept rehabilitation services under the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 or the federal Social Security Act, or because he is receiving workers' compensation benefits, has his Social Security benefits reduced or terminated, the disability benefit shall be reduced as if the employee were receiving his full Social Security disability benefit.

(c) If the employee (i) is over the age for a full Social Security old-age insurance benefit, (ii) was not eligible for a Social Security disability benefit immediately before reaching that age, and (iii) is eligible for a full Social Security old-age insurance benefit, then the amount of the monthly disability benefit shall be reduced, but not to less than $10 a month, by the amount of the old-age insurance benefit to which the employee is entitled, whether or not the employee applies for the Social Security old-age insurance benefit. This reduction shall be made in the month after the month in which the employee attains the age for a full Social Security old-age insurance benefit. However, if the employee was receiving a Social Security disability benefit before reaching the age for a full Social Security old-age insurance benefit, the disability benefits after that age shall be determined under subsection (b) of this Section.

(d) The amount of disability benefits shall not be reduced by reason of any increase, other than one resulting from a correction in the employee's wage records, in the amount of disability or old-age insurance benefits under the federal Social Security Act which takes effect after the month of the initial reduction under paragraph (b) or (c) of this Section.

(e) If the employee in any month receives compensation from gainful employment which is more than 25% of the final rate of earnings on which his disability benefits are based, the temporary disability benefit payable for that month shall be reduced by an amount equal to such excess.

(f) An employee who has been disabled for at least 30 days may return to work for the employer on a part-time basis for a trial work period of up to one year, during which the disability shall be deemed to continue. Service credit shall continue to accrue and the disability benefit shall continue to be paid during the trial work period, but the benefit shall be reduced by the amount of earnings received by the disabled employee. Return to service on a full-time basis shall terminate the trial work period. The reduction under this subsection (f) shall be in lieu of the reduction, if any, required under subsection (e).

(g) Beginning January 1, 1988, every total and permanent disability benefit shall be increased by 3% of the original amount of the benefit, not compounded, on each January 1 following the later of (1) the date the total and permanent disability benefit begins, or (2) the date the total and permanent disability benefit would have begun if the employee had been paid a temporary disability benefit for 30 months.

(Source: P.A. 92-424, eff. 8-17-01.)

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