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1
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION

 
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
 
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
 
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
 
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
 
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.