103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
SB3252

 

Introduced 2/6/2024, by Sen. Michael W. Halpin

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
40 ILCS 5/17-132  from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 17-132
105 ILCS 5/27A-11
30 ILCS 805/8.48 new

    Amends the Chicago Teachers Article of the Illinois Pension Code. Provides that if an Employer fails to transmit to the Fund contributions required of the Employer under the Article or contributions required of teachers for more than 180 days after those contributions are due, then, after giving notice to the Board of Education, the Fund may certify to the State Comptroller or the State Superintendent of Education the amounts of the delinquent payments, and the State Comptroller or the State Superintendent of Education shall deduct the amounts so certified, or any part thereof, from any State funds to be remitted to the Board of Education and shall pay the amount so deducted to the Fund. Amends the Charter Schools Article of the School Code. Provides that a charter school contract shall provide that the school district shall withhold from any funding to the charter school an amount equal to any delinquent pension contributions by the charter school and that the school district shall remit that amount to the affected pension fund or retirement system. Amends the State Mandates Act to require implementation without reimbursement.


LRB103 37704 RPS 67831 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

SB3252LRB103 37704 RPS 67831 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 Section 17-132 as follows:
 
6    (40 ILCS 5/17-132)  (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 17-132)
7    Sec. 17-132. Payments and certification of salary
8deductions.
9    (a) An Employer shall cause the Fund to receive all
10members' payroll records and pension contributions within 30
11calendar days after each predesignated payday. For purposes of
12this Section, the predesignated payday shall be determined in
13accordance with each Employer's payroll schedule for
14contributions to the Fund.
15    (b) An Employer that fails to timely certify and submit
16payroll records to the Fund is subject to a statutory penalty
17in the amount of $100 per day for each day that a required
18certification and submission is late.
19    Amounts not received by the 30th calendar day after the
20predesignated payday shall be deemed delinquent and subject to
21a penalty consisting of interest, which shall accrue on a
22monthly basis at the Fund's then effective actuarial rate of
23return, and liquidated damages in the amount of $100 per day,

 

 

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1not to exceed 20% of the principal contributions due, which
2shall be mandatory except for good cause shown and in the
3discretion of the Board.
4    An Employer in possession of member contributions deducted
5from payroll checks is holding Fund assets, and thus becomes a
6fiduciary over those assets.
7    (c) The payroll records shall report (1) all pensionable
8salary earned in that pay period, exclusive of salaries for
9overtime, extracurricular activities, or any employment on an
10optional basis, such as in summer school; (2) adjustments to
11pensionable salary, exclusive of salaries for overtime,
12extracurricular activities, or any employment on an optional
13basis, such as in summer school, made in a pay period for any
14prior pay periods; (3) pension contributions attributable to
15pensionable salary earned in the reported pay period or the
16adjusted pay period as required by subsection (b) of Section
1717-131; and (4) any salary paid by an Employer if that salary
18is compensation for validated service and is exclusive of
19salary for overtime, extracurricular activities, or any
20employment on an optional basis, such as in summer school.
21Payroll records required by item (4) of this paragraph shall
22identify the number of days of service rendered by the member
23and whether each day of service represents a partial or whole
24day of service.
25    (d) The appropriate officers of the Employer shall certify
26and submit the payroll records no later than 30 calendar days

 

 

SB3252- 3 -LRB103 37704 RPS 67831 b

1after each predesignated payday. The certification shall
2constitute a confirmation of the accuracy of such deductions
3according to the provisions of this Article.
4    Each Charter School and contract school shall designate an
5administrator as a "Pension Officer". The Pension Officer
6shall be responsible for certifying all payroll information,
7including contributions due and certified sick days payable
8pursuant to Section 17-134, and assuring resolution of
9reported payroll and contribution deficiencies.
10    (d-5) If an Employer fails to transmit to the Fund
11contributions required of the Employer under this Article or
12contributions required of teachers for more than 180 days
13after those contributions are due, then, after giving notice
14to the Board of Education, the Fund may certify to the State
15Comptroller or the State Superintendent of Education the
16amounts of the delinquent payments, and the State Comptroller
17or the State Superintendent of Education, whichever is
18applicable, shall deduct the amounts so certified or any part
19thereof from any State funds to be remitted to the Board of
20Education and shall pay the amount so deducted to the Fund. If
21State funds from which such deductions may be made are not
22available, the Fund may proceed in accordance with subsection
23(e) to recover the amounts of such delinquent payments.
24    (e) The Board has the authority to conduct payroll audits
25of a charter school or contract school to determine the
26existence of any delinquencies in contributions to the Fund,

 

 

SB3252- 4 -LRB103 37704 RPS 67831 b

1and such charter school or contract school shall be required
2to provide such books and records and contribution information
3as the Board or its authorized representative may require. The
4Board is also authorized to collect delinquent contributions
5from charter schools and contract schools and develop
6procedures for the collection of such delinquencies.
7Collection procedures may include legal proceedings in the
8courts of the State of Illinois. Expenses, including
9reasonable attorneys' fees, incurred in the collection of
10delinquent contributions may be assessed by the Board against
11the charter school or contract school.
12    (f) The Fund shall provide a conditional grace period for
13contract schools that show evidence of timely and good faith
14efforts to submit payroll records and make pension
15contributions due between January 1, 2022 and April 1, 2022.
16If payroll records and pension contributions due during that
17time period are not submitted by April 1, 2022, the statutory
18penalties, liquidated damages, and interest shall be
19calculated from the original due date to the submission date
20of the pension contributions or payroll records, as
21applicable.
22    Evidence of timely and good faith efforts shall include,
23but are not limited to, the following:
24        (1) evidence of the contract school's continuing
25    efforts to submit payroll records and make pension
26    contributions, both before and after the date the payroll

 

 

SB3252- 5 -LRB103 37704 RPS 67831 b

1    records and pension contributions were due;
2        (2) documented evidence submitted by the contract
3    school of the contract school's continuing efforts to
4    submit payroll records and make pension contributions;
5        (3) evidence in the possession of the Fund of the
6    contract school's continuing efforts to submit payroll
7    records and make pension contributions; and
8        (4) contact by the contract school with the Fund to
9    seek assistance and notify the Fund of difficulties with
10    submitting the payroll records and making the pension
11    contributions within a period of time determined by the
12    Board after the date the pension contributions and payroll
13    records were due.
14    The Fund may adopt rules to implement the changes made by
15this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly.
16(Source: P.A. 101-261, eff. 8-9-19; 102-636, eff. 8-27-21.)
 
17    Section 10. The School Code is amended by changing Section
1827A-11 as follows:
 
19    (105 ILCS 5/27A-11)
20    Sec. 27A-11. Local financing.
21    (a) For purposes of the School Code, pupils enrolled in a
22charter school shall be included in the pupil enrollment of
23the school district within which the pupil resides. Each
24charter school (i) shall determine the school district in

 

 

SB3252- 6 -LRB103 37704 RPS 67831 b

1which each pupil who is enrolled in the charter school
2resides, (ii) shall report the aggregate number of pupils
3resident of a school district who are enrolled in the charter
4school to the school district in which those pupils reside,
5and (iii) shall maintain accurate records of daily attendance
6that shall be deemed sufficient to file claims under Section
718-8.15 notwithstanding any other requirements of that Section
8regarding hours of instruction and teacher licensure.
9    (b) Except for a charter school established by referendum
10under Section 27A-6.5, as part of a charter school contract,
11the charter school and the local school board shall agree on
12funding and any services to be provided by the school district
13to the charter school. Agreed funding that a charter school is
14to receive from the local school board for a school year shall
15be paid in equal quarterly installments with the payment of
16the installment for the first quarter being made not later
17than July 1, unless the charter establishes a different
18payment schedule. However, if a charter school dismisses a
19pupil from the charter school after receiving a quarterly
20payment, the charter school shall return to the school
21district, on a quarterly basis, the prorated portion of public
22funding provided for the education of that pupil for the time
23the student is not enrolled at the charter school. Likewise,
24if a pupil transfers to a charter school between quarterly
25payments, the school district shall provide, on a quarterly
26basis, a prorated portion of the public funding to the charter

 

 

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1school to provide for the education of that pupil. The charter
2school contract shall provide that the school district shall
3withhold from any funding to the charter school an amount
4equal to any delinquent pension contributions by the charter
5school and that the school district shall remit that amount to
6the affected pension fund or retirement system.
7    All services centrally or otherwise provided by the school
8district including, but not limited to, rent, food services,
9custodial services, maintenance, curriculum, media services,
10libraries, transportation, and warehousing shall be subject to
11negotiation between a charter school and the local school
12board and paid for out of the revenues negotiated pursuant to
13this subsection (b); provided that the local school board
14shall not attempt, by negotiation or otherwise, to obligate a
15charter school to provide pupil transportation for pupils for
16whom a district is not required to provide transportation
17under the criteria set forth in subsection (a)(13) of Section
1827A-7.
19    In no event shall the funding be less than 97% or more than
20103% of the school district's per capita student tuition
21multiplied by the number of students residing in the district
22who are enrolled in the charter school.
23    It is the intent of the General Assembly that funding and
24service agreements under this subsection (b) shall be neither
25a financial incentive nor a financial disincentive to the
26establishment of a charter school.

 

 

SB3252- 8 -LRB103 37704 RPS 67831 b

1    The charter school may set and collect reasonable fees.
2Fees collected from students enrolled at a charter school
3shall be retained by the charter school.
4    (c) Notwithstanding subsection (b) of this Section, the
5proportionate share of State and federal resources generated
6by students with disabilities or staff serving them shall be
7directed to charter schools enrolling those students by their
8school districts or administrative units. The proportionate
9share of moneys generated under other federal or State
10categorical aid programs shall be directed to charter schools
11serving students eligible for that aid.
12    (d) The governing body of a charter school is authorized
13to accept gifts, donations, or grants of any kind made to the
14charter school and to expend or use gifts, donations, or
15grants in accordance with the conditions prescribed by the
16donor; however, a gift, donation, or grant may not be accepted
17by the governing body if it is subject to any condition
18contrary to applicable law or contrary to the terms of the
19contract between the charter school and the local school
20board. Charter schools shall be encouraged to solicit and
21utilize community volunteer speakers and other instructional
22resources when providing instruction on the Holocaust and
23other historical events.
24    (e) (Blank).
25    (f) (Blank).
26    (g) At the non-renewal or revocation of its charter, each

 

 

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1charter school shall refund to the local board of education
2all unspent funds.
3    (h) A charter school is authorized to incur temporary,
4short term debt to pay operating expenses in anticipation of
5receipt of funds from the local school board.
6(Source: P.A. 103-175, eff. 6-30-23.)
 
7    Section 90. The State Mandates Act is amended by adding
8Section 8.48 as follows:
 
9    (30 ILCS 805/8.48 new)
10    Sec. 8.48. Exempt mandate. Notwithstanding Sections 6 and
118 of this Act, no reimbursement by the State is required for
12the implementation of any mandate created by this amendatory
13Act of the 103rd General Assembly.