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1 | SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, Article XIII, Section 5 of the Illinois | ||||||
3 | Constitution of 1970 requires the State to provide pension | ||||||
4 | benefits to members of State-sponsored retirement systems; and
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5 | WHEREAS, The State of Illinois supports five retirement | ||||||
6 | plans on behalf of State employees, university employees, | ||||||
7 | teachers, judges, and members of the Illinois General Assembly; | ||||||
8 | and | ||||||
9 | WHEREAS, It is the State's responsibility to provide | ||||||
10 | adequate funding to support State pension liabilities so that | ||||||
11 | future generations are not held responsible for current | ||||||
12 | expenses; and | ||||||
13 | WHEREAS, Deferrals of the State's obligations to its | ||||||
14 | annuitants contributed to an unfunded pension liability in | ||||||
15 | State-sponsored systems of $19 billion in 1995, which grew to | ||||||
16 | $43 billion in 2003, resulting in a funded ratio of 48% in | ||||||
17 | 2003, the worst funded ratio of any of the fifty States and | ||||||
18 | significantly under-funded in comparison to the national | ||||||
19 | average of 91.1% among 101 public retirement systems, according | ||||||
20 | to the 2003 Public Fund Survey conducted by the National | ||||||
21 | Association of State Retirement Administrators; and |
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1 | WHEREAS, Because of this crisis, unless changes are made, | ||||||
2 | commitments to State employees will become a significant burden | ||||||
3 | on future generations; and
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4 | WHEREAS, Annuitants of the State's benefit systems rely on | ||||||
5 | the security provided by pension benefits to meet their daily | ||||||
6 | necessities, including food, housing, and healthcare; and | ||||||
7 | fairness requires that Illinois keep its obligations and | ||||||
8 | commitments to those who have earned it and will work for it in | ||||||
9 | the future; and
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10 | WHEREAS, Over the next three years, in order to meet the | ||||||
11 | statutory funding formula, the State will be required to | ||||||
12 | increase annual contributions to the pension systems and debt | ||||||
13 | service on outstanding pension obligation bonds, reducing | ||||||
14 | available State resources to fund growth in other core services | ||||||
15 | provided by the State, such as education and health care, to | ||||||
16 | less than $200 million of natural revenue growth per year, | ||||||
17 | representing less than one percent growth per year in these | ||||||
18 | critical areas; and
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19 | WHEREAS, Further deferrals of the State's pension | ||||||
20 | liabilities will force future generations to pay billions of | ||||||
21 | dollars in additional interest on the unfunded liabilities of | ||||||
22 | the State between fiscal years 2008 and 2045; therefore, be it
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1 | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL | ||||||
2 | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES | ||||||
3 | CONCURRING HEREIN, that the State's pension funding system is | ||||||
4 | in a state of crisis, and that the State will continue to | ||||||
5 | unnecessarily pay billions in interest costs alone if the | ||||||
6 | unfunded pension liability does not receive an immediate and | ||||||
7 | significant infusion of funding, the General Assembly is in | ||||||
8 | agreement that a solution to this crisis must be adopted prior | ||||||
9 | to adjournment of 2007 Spring Session of the Ninety-Fifth | ||||||
10 | General Assembly; this action is necessary to adequately secure | ||||||
11 | existing pension obligations, reduce long-term interest costs | ||||||
12 | on current obligations, more effectively manage State funding | ||||||
13 | requirements, and ensure that future new revenues will not be | ||||||
14 | consumed solely by escalating pension contributions.
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