HB4164 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB096 07897 AMC 18000 b

96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2009 and 2010
HB4164

Introduced 2/27/2009, by Rep. Ron Stephens

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

40 ILCS 5/16-143	from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 16-143
40 ILCS 5/16-203

Amends the Downstate Teacher Article of the Illinois Pension Code. Removes language terminating survivors' benefits for remarriage of a surviving spouse prior to attainment of age 55. Exempts the changes from new benefit increase provisions. Effective immediately.

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

PENSION IMPACT NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning public employee benefits.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Illinois Pension Code is amended by changing Sections 16-143 and 16-203 as follows:

(40 ILCS 5/16-143) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 16-143)

Sec. 16-143. Survivors' benefits - other conditions and limitations. The benefits provided under Sections 16-141 and 16-142, shall be subject to the following further conditions and limitations:

(1) The period during which a member was in receipt of a disability or occupational disability benefit shall be considered as creditable service at the annual salary rate on which the member last made contributions.

(2) All service prior to July 24, 1959, for which creditable service is granted towards a retirement annuity shall be considered as creditable service.

(3) No benefits shall be payable unless a member, or a disabled member, returning to service, has made contributions to the system for at least one month after July 24, 1959, except that an annuitant must have contributed to the system for at least 1 year of creditable service after July 24, 1959.

(4) Creditable service under the State Employees' Retirement System of Illinois, the State Universities Retirement System and the Public School Teachers' Pension and Retirement Fund of Chicago shall be considered in determining whether the member has met the creditable service requirement.

(5) If an eligible beneficiary qualifies for a survivors' benefit because of pension credits established by the participant or annuitant in another system covered by Article 20, and the combined survivors' benefits exceed the highest survivors' benefit payable by either system based upon the combined pension credits, the survivors' benefit payable by this system shall be reduced to that amount which when added to the survivors' benefit payable by the other system would equal this highest survivors' benefit. If the other system has a similar provision for adjustment of the survivors' benefit, the respective proportional survivors' benefits shall be reduced proportionately according to the ratio which the amount of each proportional survivors' benefit bears to the aggregate of all proportional survivors' benefits. If a survivors' benefit is payable by another system covered by Article 20, and the survivor elects to waive the monthly survivors' benefit and accept a lump sum payment or death benefit in lieu of the monthly survivors' benefit, this system shall, for the purpose of adjusting the monthly survivors' benefit under this paragraph, assume that the survivor had been entitled to a monthly survivors' benefit which, in accordance with actuarial tables of this system, is the actuarial equivalent of the amount of the lump sum payment or death benefit.

(6) (Blank). Remarriage of a surviving spouse prior to attainment of age 55 that occurs before the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 91st General Assembly shall terminate his or her survivors' benefits.

The change made to this item (6) by this amendatory Act of the 91st General Assembly applies without regard to whether the deceased member or annuitant was in service on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 91st General Assembly.

(7) The benefits payable to an eligible child shall terminate when the eligible child marries, dies, or attains age 18 (age 22 if a full-time student); except that benefits payable to a dependent disabled eligible child shall terminate only when the eligible child dies or ceases to be disabled.

(Source: P.A. 90-448, eff. 8-16-97; 91-887, eff. 7-6-00.)

(40 ILCS 5/16-203)

Sec. 16-203. Application and expiration of new benefit increases.

(a) As used in this Section, "new benefit increase" means an increase in the amount of any benefit provided under this Article, or an expansion of the conditions of eligibility for any benefit under this Article, that results from an amendment to this Code that takes effect after June 1, 2005 (the effective date of Public Act 94-4). "New benefit increase", however, does not include any benefit increase resulting from the changes made to this Article by Public Act 95-910 or this amendatory Act of the 96th 95th General Assembly.

(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Code or any subsequent amendment to this Code, every new benefit increase is subject to this Section and shall be deemed to be granted only in conformance with and contingent upon compliance with the provisions of this Section.

(c) The Public Act enacting a new benefit increase must identify and provide for payment to the System of additional funding at least sufficient to fund the resulting annual increase in cost to the System as it accrues.

Every new benefit increase is contingent upon the General Assembly providing the additional funding required under this subsection. The Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability shall analyze whether adequate additional funding has been provided for the new benefit increase and shall report its analysis to the Public Pension Division of the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. A new benefit increase created by a Public Act that does not include the additional funding required under this subsection is null and void. If the Public Pension Division determines that the additional funding provided for a new benefit increase under this subsection is or has become inadequate, it may so certify to the Governor and the State Comptroller and, in the absence of corrective action by the General Assembly, the new benefit increase shall expire at the end of the fiscal year in which the certification is made.

(d) Every new benefit increase shall expire 5 years after its effective date or on such earlier date as may be specified in the language enacting the new benefit increase or provided under subsection (c). This does not prevent the General Assembly from extending or re-creating a new benefit increase by law.

(e) Except as otherwise provided in the language creating the new benefit increase, a new benefit increase that expires under this Section continues to apply to persons who applied and qualified for the affected benefit while the new benefit increase was in effect and to the affected beneficiaries and alternate payees of such persons, but does not apply to any other person, including without limitation a person who continues in service after the expiration date and did not apply and qualify for the affected benefit while the new benefit increase was in effect.

(Source: P.A. 94-4, eff. 6-1-05; 95-910, eff. 8-26-08.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.