103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
SB1643

 

Introduced 2/8/2023, by Sen. Robert F. Martwick

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
40 ILCS 5/15-134.1  from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 15-134.1
40 ILCS 5/15-175  from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 15-175
40 ILCS 5/15-181  from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 15-181
40 ILCS 5/15-186.1  from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 15-186.1
40 ILCS 5/15-198

    Amends the State Universities Article of the Illinois Pension Code. Provides that in computing service: one day of service in a calendar month shall constitute a full month of service. For a participant who teaches a course or courses, a participant is deemed to be in service until the date on which the employer requires grades to be submitted for that course or courses, and that date shall be deemed to constitute a day of service. Provides that the changes made by the amendatory Act are retroactive to 2 years before the effective date of the amendatory Act. Provides that a participant may request a recalculation of his or her service based on the changes made by the amendatory Act. Requires an employer to annually provide to each of its participating employees a statement of the amount of service the employer reported to the System for that participating employee during the preceding academic year. Provides that if a person disputes the amount of any benefit payment, the amount of service credit the benefit was based on, the formula used to calculate the benefit, the calculation of the benefit, or the information provided to the System by the employer, he or she may, within 90 days after the commencement of the benefit, apply to the System in writing for a recalculation. Provides that any benefit increase that results from the amendatory Act is excluded from the definition of "new benefit increase". Makes other changes. Effective immediately.


LRB103 27808 RPS 54186 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

SB1643LRB103 27808 RPS 54186 b

1    AN ACT concerning public employee benefits.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Illinois Pension Code is amended by
5changing Sections 15-134.1, 15-175, 15-181, 15-186.1, and
615-198 as follows:
 
7    (40 ILCS 5/15-134.1)  (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 15-134.1)
8    Sec. 15-134.1. Service calculation and adjustment.
9    (a) In computing service, the following schedule shall
10govern: one month of service means a calendar month during
11which a participant (i) qualifies as an employee under Section
1215-107 for at least 15 or more days, and (ii) receives any
13earnings as an employee; 8 or more months of service during an
14academic year shall constitute a year of service; 6 or more but
15less than 8 months of service during an academic year shall
16constitute 3/4 of a year of service; 3 or more but less than 6
17months of service during an academic year shall constitute 1/2
18of a year of service; and one or more but less than 3 months of
19service during an academic year shall constitute 1/4 of a year
20of service. No more than one year of service may be granted per
21academic year, regardless of the number of hours or percentage
22of time worked.
23    (a-5) Notwithstanding subsection (a), for the purposes of

 

 

SB1643- 2 -LRB103 27808 RPS 54186 b

1computing service, one day of service in a calendar month
2shall constitute a full month of service. For a participant
3who teaches a course or courses, a participant is deemed to be
4in service until the date on which the employer requires
5grades for that course or courses to be submitted, and that
6date shall be deemed to constitute a day of service. No more
7than one year of service may be granted per academic year,
8regardless of the number of hours or percentage of time
9worked.
10    (b) In calculating a retirement annuity, if a participant
11has been employed at 1/2 time or less for 3 or more years after
12September 1, 1959, service shall be granted for such
13employment in excess of 3 years, in the proportion that the
14percentage of time employed for each such year of employment
15bears to the average annual percentage of time employed during
16the period on which the final rate of earnings is based. This
17adjustment shall not be made, however, in determining the
18eligibility for a retirement annuity, disability benefits,
19additional death benefits, or survivors' insurance. The
20percentage of time employed shall be as reported by the
21employer.
22    (c) The changes made by this amendatory Act of the 103rd
23General Assembly apply retroactively to 2 years before the
24effective date of this amendatory Act of the 103rd General
25Assembly. A participant may request that the System
26recalculate his or her service based on the changes made by

 

 

SB1643- 3 -LRB103 27808 RPS 54186 b

1this amendatory Act of the 103rd General Assembly.
2(Source: P.A. 87-8.)
 
3    (40 ILCS 5/15-175)  (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 15-175)
4    Sec. 15-175. To provide statements.
5    To make available to the participants and annuitants a
6financial statement including a summary of the report of the
7certified public accountant; and to submit an individual
8statement specifying the accumulations to the credit, as of
9the latest date practicable, of any participant so requesting;
10and to annually provide the formula for calculating pension
11benefits to any employee who is not a full-time employee.
12(Source: Laws 1963, p. 161.)
 
13    (40 ILCS 5/15-181)  (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 15-181)
14    Sec. 15-181. Duties of employers.
15    (a) Each employer, in preparing payroll vouchers for
16participating employees, shall indicate, in addition to other
17information: (1) the amount of employee contributions and
18survivors insurance contributions required under Section
1915-157, (2) the gross earnings payable to each employee, and
20(3) the total of all contributions required under Section
2115-157.
22    (b) Each employer, in drawing warrants or checks against
23trust or federal funds for items of salary on payroll vouchers
24certified by employers, shall draw such warrants or checks to

 

 

SB1643- 4 -LRB103 27808 RPS 54186 b

1participating employees for the amount of cash salary or wages
2specified for the period, and shall draw a warrant or check to
3this system for the total of the contributions required under
4Section 15-157. The warrant or check drawn to this system,
5together with the additional copy of the payroll supplied by
6the employer, shall be transmitted immediately to the board.
7    (c) The City of Champaign and the City of Urbana, as
8employers of persons who participate in this System pursuant
9to subsection (h) of Section 15-107, shall each collect and
10transmit to the System from each payroll the employee
11contributions required under Section 15-157, together with
12such payroll documentation as the Board may require, at the
13time that the payroll is paid.
14    (d) Each employer shall annually provide to its
15participating employees a statement of the amount of service
16the employer reported to the System for that participating
17employee during the preceding academic year.
18(Source: P.A. 90-576, eff. 3-31-98; 91-887, eff. 7-6-00.)
 
19    (40 ILCS 5/15-186.1)  (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 15-186.1)
20    Sec. 15-186.1. Mistake in benefit calculation and
21overpayment recovery.
22    (a) Mistake in benefit calculation. If the System
23mistakenly sets any benefit at an incorrect amount, it shall
24recalculate the benefit as soon as may be practicable after
25the mistake is discovered. If the benefit was mistakenly set

 

 

SB1643- 5 -LRB103 27808 RPS 54186 b

1too low, the System shall make a lump sum payment to the
2recipient of an amount equal to the difference between the
3benefits that should have been paid and those actually paid,
4plus interest at the effective rate from the date the unpaid
5amounts accrued to the date of payment.
6    If the benefit was mistakenly set too high, the System may
7recover the amount overpaid from the recipient thereof, plus
8interest at the effective rate from the date of overpayment to
9the date of recovery, either directly or by deducting such
10amount from the remaining benefits payable to the recipient.
11However, if (1) the amount of the benefit was mistakenly set
12too high, and (2) the error was undiscovered for 3 years or
13longer, and (3) the error was not the result of incorrect
14information supplied or information omitted by the affected
15member or beneficiary, then upon discovery of the mistake the
16benefit shall be adjusted to the correct level, but the
17recipient of the benefit need not repay to the System the
18excess amounts received in error.
19    (b) Overpayment recovery. Regardless of the date an
20overpayment is discovered, if the System determines that the
21overpayment has occurred for any reason other than those
22specified in subsection (a) of this Section, the System may
23recover the overpayment from the recipient thereof or the
24recipient's estate, plus interest at the effective rate from
25the date of the overpayment to the date of recovery, either
26directly or by deducting such amount from the remaining

 

 

SB1643- 6 -LRB103 27808 RPS 54186 b

1benefits payable to the recipient or the recipient's estate,
2or by any other means available to the System. This subsection
3(b) applies to overpayments occurring before, on, or after the
4effective date of this amendatory Act of the 102nd General
5Assembly.
6    If a person disputes the amount of any benefit payment,
7the amount of service credit the benefit was based on, the
8formula used to calculate the benefit, the calculation of the
9benefit, or the information provided to the System by the
10employer, he or she may, within 90 days after the commencement
11of the benefit, apply to the System in writing for a
12recalculation.
13(Source: P.A. 102-746, eff. 5-6-22.)
 
14    (40 ILCS 5/15-198)
15    Sec. 15-198. Application and expiration of new benefit
16increases.
17    (a) As used in this Section, "new benefit increase" means
18an increase in the amount of any benefit provided under this
19Article, or an expansion of the conditions of eligibility for
20any benefit under this Article, that results from an amendment
21to this Code that takes effect after June 1, 2005 (the
22effective date of Public Act 94-4). "New benefit increase",
23however, does not include any benefit increase resulting from
24the changes made to Article 1 or this Article by Public Act
25100-23, Public Act 100-587, Public Act 100-769, Public Act

 

 

SB1643- 7 -LRB103 27808 RPS 54186 b

1101-10, Public Act 101-610, Public Act 102-16, or this
2amendatory Act of the 103rd General Assembly or this
3amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly.
4    (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Code or
5any subsequent amendment to this Code, every new benefit
6increase is subject to this Section and shall be deemed to be
7granted only in conformance with and contingent upon
8compliance with the provisions of this Section.
9    (c) The Public Act enacting a new benefit increase must
10identify and provide for payment to the System of additional
11funding at least sufficient to fund the resulting annual
12increase in cost to the System as it accrues.
13    Every new benefit increase is contingent upon the General
14Assembly providing the additional funding required under this
15subsection. The Commission on Government Forecasting and
16Accountability shall analyze whether adequate additional
17funding has been provided for the new benefit increase and
18shall report its analysis to the Public Pension Division of
19the Department of Insurance. A new benefit increase created by
20a Public Act that does not include the additional funding
21required under this subsection is null and void. If the Public
22Pension Division determines that the additional funding
23provided for a new benefit increase under this subsection is
24or has become inadequate, it may so certify to the Governor and
25the State Comptroller and, in the absence of corrective action
26by the General Assembly, the new benefit increase shall expire

 

 

SB1643- 8 -LRB103 27808 RPS 54186 b

1at the end of the fiscal year in which the certification is
2made.
3    (d) Every new benefit increase shall expire 5 years after
4its effective date or on such earlier date as may be specified
5in the language enacting the new benefit increase or provided
6under subsection (c). This does not prevent the General
7Assembly from extending or re-creating a new benefit increase
8by law.
9    (e) Except as otherwise provided in the language creating
10the new benefit increase, a new benefit increase that expires
11under this Section continues to apply to persons who applied
12and qualified for the affected benefit while the new benefit
13increase was in effect and to the affected beneficiaries and
14alternate payees of such persons, but does not apply to any
15other person, including, without limitation, a person who
16continues in service after the expiration date and did not
17apply and qualify for the affected benefit while the new
18benefit increase was in effect.
19(Source: P.A. 101-10, eff. 6-5-19; 101-81, eff. 7-12-19;
20101-610, eff. 1-1-20; 102-16, eff. 6-17-21.)
 
21    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
22becoming law.