94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2005 and 2006
HB0741

 

Introduced 2/1/2005, by Rep. Roger L. Eddy

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
40 ILCS 5/16-150.1

    Amends the Downstate Teacher Article of the Illinois Pension Code. In provisions concerning retired teachers returning to teach in a subject shortage area, makes changes concerning when the school district must advertise its vacancies and search for teachers. Effective immediately.


LRB094 07156 AMC 37310 b

PENSION IMPACT NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB0741 LRB094 07156 AMC 37310 b

1     AN ACT concerning public employee benefits.
 
2     Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
 
4     Section 5. The Illinois Pension Code is amended by changing
5 Section 16-150.1 as follows:
 
6     (40 ILCS 5/16-150.1)
7     Sec. 16-150.1. Return to teaching in subject shortage area.
8     (a) As used in this Section, "eligible employment" means
9 employment beginning on or after July 1, 2003 and ending no
10 later than June 30, 2008, in a subject shortage area at a
11 qualified school, in a position requiring certification under
12 the law governing the certification of teachers.
13     As used in this Section, "qualified school" means a public
14 elementary or secondary school that meets all of the following
15 requirements:
16         (1) At the time of hiring a retired teacher under this
17     Section, the school is experiencing a shortage of teachers
18     in the subject shortage area for which the teacher is
19     hired.
20         (2) The school district to which the school belongs has
21     complied with the requirements of subsection (e), and the
22     regional superintendent has certified that compliance to
23     the System.
24         (3) If the school district to which the school belongs
25     provides group health benefits for its teachers generally,
26     substantially similar health benefits are made available
27     for teachers participating in the program under this
28     Section, without any limitations based on pre-existing
29     conditions.
30     (b) An annuitant receiving a retirement annuity under this
31 Article (other than a disability retirement annuity) may engage
32 in eligible employment at a qualified school without impairing

 

 

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1 his or her retirement status or retirement annuity, subject to
2 the following conditions:
3         (1) the eligible employment does not begin within the
4     school year during which service was terminated;
5         (2) the annuitant has not received any early retirement
6     incentive under Section 16-133.3, 16-133.4, or 16-133.5;
7         (3) if the annuitant retired before age 60 and with
8     less than 34 years of service, the eligible employment does
9     not begin within the year following the effective date of
10     the retirement annuity;
11         (4) if the annuitant retired at age 60 or above or with
12     34 or more years of service, the eligible employment does
13     not begin within the 90 days following the effective date
14     of the retirement annuity; and
15         (5) before the eligible employment begins, the
16     employer notifies the System in writing of the annuitant's
17     desire to participate in the program established under this
18     Section.
19     (c) An annuitant engaged in eligible employment in
20 accordance with subsection (b) shall be deemed a participant in
21 the program established under this Section for so long as he or
22 she remains employed in eligible employment.
23     (d) A participant in the program established under this
24 Section continues to be a retirement annuitant, rather than an
25 active teacher, for all of the purposes of this Code, but shall
26 be deemed an active teacher for other purposes, such as
27 inclusion in a collective bargaining unit, eligibility for
28 group health benefits, and compliance with the laws governing
29 the employment, regulation, certification, treatment, and
30 conduct of teachers.
31     With respect to an annuitant's eligible employment under
32 this Section, neither employee nor employer contributions
33 shall be made to the System and no additional service credit
34 shall be earned. Eligible employment does not affect the
35 annuitant's final average salary or the amount of the
36 retirement annuity.

 

 

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1     (e) Before hiring a teacher under this Section, the school
2 district to which the school belongs must do the following:
3         (1) If the school district to which the school belongs
4     has honorably dismissed, within the calendar year
5     preceding the beginning of the school term for which it
6     seeks to employ a retired teacher under the program
7     established in this Section, any teachers who are legally
8     qualified to hold positions in the subject shortage area
9     and have not yet begun to receive their retirement
10     annuities under this Article, the vacant positions must
11     first be tendered to those teachers.
12         (2) For a period of at least 90 days during the 6
13     months preceding the beginning of either the fall or spring
14     term the school term for which it seeks to employ a retired
15     teacher under the program established in this Section, the
16     school district must, on an ongoing basis, both (i)
17     advertise its vacancies in the subject shortage area in a
18     newspaper of general circulation in the area in which the
19     school is located and in employment bulletins published by
20     college and university placement offices located near the
21     school; and (ii) search for teachers legally qualified to
22     fill those vacancies through the Illinois Education Job
23     Bank.
24     The school district must submit documentation of its
25 compliance with this subsection to the regional
26 superintendent. Upon receiving satisfactory documentation from
27 the school district, the regional superintendent shall certify
28 the district's compliance with this subsection to the System.
29     (f) This Section applies without regard to whether the
30 annuitant was in service on or after the effective date of this
31 amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly.
32 (Source: P.A. 93-320, eff. 7-23-03.)
 
33     Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
34 becoming law.