Full Text of HB4139 103rd General Assembly
HB4139 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024 HB4139 Introduced , by Rep. Bradley Fritts SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
| 40 ILCS 5/7-131 new | | 40 ILCS 5/7-145.1 | | 40 ILCS 5/7-146 | from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 7-146 | 40 ILCS 5/7-149 | from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 7-149 | 40 ILCS 5/7-150 | from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 7-150 |
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Amends the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF) Article of the Illinois Pension Code. With regard to disability benefits, provides that a determination of disability may be made by a licensed and practicing medical professional with the authority to diagnose the condition or conditions for which disability benefits are sought (rather than only a physician). Defines "medical professional". Makes conforming changes. Effective immediately.
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| | A BILL FOR |
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| | | HB4139 | | LRB103 34045 RPS 63862 b |
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| 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 adding | 5 | | Section 7-131 and by changing Sections 7-145.1, 7-146, 7-149, | 6 | | and 7-150 as follows: | 7 | | (40 ILCS 5/7-131 new) | 8 | | Sec. 7-131. Medical professional. "Medical professional": | 9 | | Any individual who has obtained a license through the | 10 | | Department of Financial and Professional Regulation under the | 11 | | Medical Practice Act of 1987, under the Physician Assistant | 12 | | Practice Act of 1987, or under the Clinical Psychologist | 13 | | Licensing Act or an advanced practice registered nurse | 14 | | licensed under the Nurse Practice Act. | 15 | | (40 ILCS 5/7-145.1) | 16 | | Sec. 7-145.1. Alternative annuity for county officers. | 17 | | (a) The benefits provided in this Section and Section | 18 | | 7-145.2 are available
only if, prior to the effective date of | 19 | | this amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly, the county | 20 | | board has filed with the Board of the Fund a resolution or
| 21 | | ordinance expressly consenting to the availability of these | 22 | | benefits for its
elected county officers. The county board's |
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| 1 | | consent is irrevocable with
respect to persons participating | 2 | | in the program, but may be revoked at any time
with respect to | 3 | | persons who have not paid an additional optional contribution
| 4 | | under this Section before the date of revocation. | 5 | | An elected county officer may elect to establish | 6 | | alternative credits for
an alternative annuity by electing in | 7 | | writing before the effective date of this amendatory Act of | 8 | | the 97th General Assembly to make additional optional
| 9 | | contributions in accordance with this Section and procedures | 10 | | established
by the board. These alternative credits are | 11 | | available only for periods of
service as an elected county | 12 | | officer. The elected county officer may
discontinue making the | 13 | | additional optional contributions by notifying the
Fund in | 14 | | writing in accordance with this Section and procedures | 15 | | established
by the board. | 16 | | Additional optional contributions for the alternative | 17 | | annuity shall
be as follows: | 18 | | (1) For service as an elected county officer after the | 19 | | option is
elected, an additional contribution of 3% of | 20 | | salary shall be contributed
to the Fund on the same basis | 21 | | and under the same conditions as contributions
required | 22 | | under Section 7-173. | 23 | | (2) For service as an elected county officer before | 24 | | the option is
elected, an additional contribution of 3% of | 25 | | the salary for the applicable
period of service, plus | 26 | | interest at the effective rate from the date of
service to |
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| 1 | | the date of payment, plus any additional amount required | 2 | | by
the county board under paragraph (3). All payments for | 3 | | past service must
be paid in full before credit is given. | 4 | | Payment must be received by the Board while the member is | 5 | | an active participant, except that one payment will be | 6 | | permitted after termination of participation. | 7 | | (3) With respect to service as an elected county | 8 | | officer before the
option is elected, if payment is made | 9 | | after the county board has filed with
the Board of the Fund | 10 | | a resolution or ordinance requiring an additional
| 11 | | contribution under this paragraph, then the contribution | 12 | | required under
paragraph (2) shall include an amount to be | 13 | | determined by the Fund, equal
to the actuarial present | 14 | | value of the additional employer cost that would
otherwise | 15 | | result from the alternative credits being established for | 16 | | that
service. A county board's resolution or ordinance | 17 | | requiring additional
contributions under this paragraph | 18 | | (3) is irrevocable. Payment must be received by the Board | 19 | | while the member is an active participant, except that one | 20 | | payment will be permitted after termination of | 21 | | participation. | 22 | | No additional optional contributions may be made for any | 23 | | period of service
for which credit has been previously | 24 | | forfeited by acceptance of a refund,
unless the refund is | 25 | | repaid in full with interest at the effective rate from
the | 26 | | date of refund to the date of repayment. |
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| 1 | | (b) In lieu of the retirement annuity otherwise payable | 2 | | under this Article,
an elected county officer who (1) has | 3 | | elected to participate in the Fund and
make additional | 4 | | optional contributions in accordance with this Section, (2)
| 5 | | has held and made additional optional contributions with | 6 | | respect to the same
elected county office for at least 8 years, | 7 | | and (3) has attained
age 55 with at least 8 years of service | 8 | | credit (or has attained age 50 with at
least 20 years of | 9 | | service as a sheriff's law enforcement employee) may elect
to | 10 | | have his retirement annuity computed as follows: 3% of the | 11 | | participant's
salary for each of the first 8 years
of service | 12 | | credit, plus 4% of that salary for each of the next 4 years of
| 13 | | service credit, plus 5% of that salary for each year of service | 14 | | credit in
excess of 12 years, subject to a maximum of 80% of | 15 | | that salary. | 16 | | This formula applies only to service in an elected county | 17 | | office that the
officer held for at least 8 years, and only to | 18 | | service for which additional
optional contributions have been | 19 | | paid under this Section. If an elected county
officer | 20 | | qualifies to have this formula applied to service in more than | 21 | | one
elected county office, the qualifying service shall be | 22 | | accumulated for purposes
of determining the applicable accrual | 23 | | percentages, but the salary used for each
office shall be the | 24 | | separate salary calculated for that office, as defined in
| 25 | | subsection (g). | 26 | | To the extent that the elected county officer has service |
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| 1 | | credit that does
not qualify for this formula, his retirement | 2 | | annuity will first be determined
in accordance with this | 3 | | formula with respect to the service to which this
formula | 4 | | applies, and then in accordance with the remaining Sections of | 5 | | this
Article with respect to the service to which this formula | 6 | | does not apply. | 7 | | (c) In lieu of the disability benefits otherwise payable | 8 | | under this
Article, an elected county officer who (1) has
| 9 | | elected to participate in the Fund, and (2) has become
| 10 | | permanently disabled and as a consequence is unable to perform | 11 | | the duties
of his office, and (3) was making optional | 12 | | contributions in accordance with
this Section at the time the | 13 | | disability was incurred, may elect to receive
a disability | 14 | | annuity calculated in accordance with the formula in | 15 | | subsection
(b). For the purposes of this subsection, an | 16 | | elected county officer shall be
considered permanently | 17 | | disabled only if: (i) disability occurs while in
service as an | 18 | | elected county officer and is of such a nature as to prevent | 19 | | him
from reasonably performing the duties of his office at the | 20 | | time; and (ii) the
board has received a written certification | 21 | | by at least 2 licensed and practicing medical professionals | 22 | | with the authority to diagnose the condition or conditions for | 23 | | which disability benefits are sought physicians
appointed by | 24 | | it stating that the officer is disabled and that the | 25 | | disability
is likely to be permanent. | 26 | | (d) Refunds of additional optional contributions shall be |
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| 1 | | made on the
same basis and under the same conditions as | 2 | | provided under Section 7-166,
7-167 and 7-168. Interest shall | 3 | | be credited at the effective rate on the
same basis and under | 4 | | the same conditions as for other contributions. | 5 | | If an elected county officer fails to hold that same | 6 | | elected county
office for at least 8 years, he or she shall be | 7 | | entitled after leaving office
to receive a refund of the | 8 | | additional optional contributions made with respect
to that | 9 | | office, plus interest at the effective rate. | 10 | | (e) The plan of optional alternative benefits and | 11 | | contributions shall be
available to persons who are elected | 12 | | county officers and active contributors
to the Fund on or | 13 | | after November 15, 1994 and elected to establish alternative | 14 | | credit before the effective date of this amendatory Act of the | 15 | | 97th General Assembly. A person who was an elected county
| 16 | | officer and an active contributor to the Fund on November 15, | 17 | | 1994 but is
no longer an active contributor may apply to make | 18 | | additional optional
contributions under this Section at any | 19 | | time within 90 days after the
effective date of this | 20 | | amendatory Act of 1997; if the person is an annuitant,
the | 21 | | resulting increase in annuity shall begin to accrue on the | 22 | | first day of
the month following the month in which the | 23 | | required payment is received by the
Fund. | 24 | | (f) For the purposes of this Section and Section 7-145.2, | 25 | | the terms "elected
county officer" and "elected county office" | 26 | | include, but are not limited to:
(1) the county clerk, |
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| 1 | | recorder, treasurer, coroner, assessor (if elected),
auditor, | 2 | | sheriff, and
State's Attorney; members of the county board; | 3 | | and the clerk of the circuit
court; and (2) a person who has | 4 | | been appointed to fill a vacancy in an
office that is normally | 5 | | filled by election on a countywide basis, for the
duration of | 6 | | his or her service in that office. The terms "elected county
| 7 | | officer" and "elected county office" do not include any | 8 | | officer or office of
a county that has not consented to the | 9 | | availability of benefits under this
Section and Section | 10 | | 7-145.2. | 11 | | (g) For the purposes of this Section and Section 7-145.2, | 12 | | the term
"salary" means the final rate of earnings for the | 13 | | elected county office held,
calculated in a manner consistent | 14 | | with Section 7-116, but for that office
only. If an elected | 15 | | county officer qualifies to have the formula in subsection
(b) | 16 | | applied to service in more than one elected county office, a | 17 | | separate
salary shall be calculated and applied with respect | 18 | | to each such office. | 19 | | (h) The changes to this Section made by this amendatory | 20 | | Act of the 91st
General Assembly apply to persons who first | 21 | | make an additional optional
contribution under this Section on | 22 | | or after the effective date of this
amendatory Act. | 23 | | (i) Any elected county officer who was entitled to receive | 24 | | a stipend from the State on or after July 1, 2009 and on or | 25 | | before June 30, 2010 may establish earnings credit for the | 26 | | amount of stipend not received, if the elected county official |
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| 1 | | applies in writing to the fund within 6 months after the | 2 | | effective date of this amendatory Act of the 96th General | 3 | | Assembly and pays to the fund an amount equal to (i) employee | 4 | | contributions on the amount of stipend not received, (ii) | 5 | | employer contributions determined by the Board equal to the | 6 | | employer's normal cost of the benefit on the amount of stipend | 7 | | not received, plus (iii) interest on items (i) and (ii) at the | 8 | | actuarially assumed rate. | 9 | | (Source: P.A. 100-148, eff. 8-18-17.)
| 10 | | (40 ILCS 5/7-146) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 7-146)
| 11 | | Sec. 7-146. Temporary disability benefits; eligibility | 12 | | benefits - Eligibility . Temporary
disability benefits shall be | 13 | | payable to participating employees as
hereinafter provided.
| 14 | | (a) The participating employee shall be considered | 15 | | temporarily
disabled if:
| 16 | | 1. He is unable to perform the duties of any position | 17 | | which might
reasonably be assigned to him by his employing | 18 | | municipality or
instrumentality thereof or participating | 19 | | instrumentality due to mental
or physical disability | 20 | | caused by bodily injury or disease, other than as
a result | 21 | | of self-inflicted injury or addiction to narcotic drugs;
| 22 | | 2. The Board has received written certifications from | 23 | | at least one licensed and practicing medical professional | 24 | | with the authority to diagnose the condition or conditions | 25 | | for which a temporary disability benefit is sought |
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| 1 | | physician and the governing body of the
employing | 2 | | municipality or instrumentality thereof or participating
| 3 | | instrumentality stating that the employee meets the | 4 | | conditions set forth
in subparagraph 1 of this paragraph | 5 | | (a).
| 6 | | (b) A temporary disability benefit shall be payable to a | 7 | | temporarily
disabled employee provided:
| 8 | | 1. He:
| 9 | | (i) has at least one year of service immediately | 10 | | preceding the
date the temporary disability was | 11 | | incurred and has made contributions to
the fund for at | 12 | | least the number of months of service normally | 13 | | required
in his position during a 12-month period, or | 14 | | has at least 5 years of
service credit, the last year | 15 | | of which immediately precedes such date; or
| 16 | | (ii) had qualified under clause (i) above, but had | 17 | | an interruption in
service of not more than 3 months in | 18 | | the 12 months preceding the date
the temporary | 19 | | disability was incurred and was not paid a separation | 20 | | benefit; or
| 21 | | (iii) had qualified under clause (i) above, but | 22 | | had an interruption
after 20 or more years of | 23 | | creditable service, was not paid a separation
benefit, | 24 | | and returned to service prior to the date the | 25 | | disability was incurred.
| 26 | | Item (iii) of this subdivision shall apply to all |
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| 1 | | employees
whose disabilities were incurred on or after | 2 | | July 1, 1985, and any such
employee who becomes eligible | 3 | | for a disability benefit under item
(iii) shall be | 4 | | entitled to receive a lump sum payment of any accumulated
| 5 | | disability benefits which may accrue from the date the | 6 | | disability was
incurred until the effective date of this | 7 | | amendatory Act of 1987.
| 8 | | Periods of qualified leave granted in compliance with | 9 | | the federal Family
and Medical Leave Act shall be ignored | 10 | | for purposes of determining the number
of consecutive | 11 | | months of employment under this subdivision (b)1.
| 12 | | 2. He has been temporarily disabled for at least 30 | 13 | | days, except
where a former temporary or permanent and | 14 | | total disability has
reoccurred within 6 months after the | 15 | | employee has returned
to service.
| 16 | | 3. He is receiving no earnings from a participating | 17 | | municipality or
instrumentality thereof or participating | 18 | | instrumentality, except as
allowed under subsection (f) of | 19 | | Section 7-152.
| 20 | | 4. He has not refused to submit to a reasonable | 21 | | physical examination
by a licensed and practicing medical | 22 | | professional with the authority to diagnose the condition | 23 | | or conditions for which a temporary disability benefit is | 24 | | sought physician appointed by the Board.
| 25 | | 5. His disability is not the result of a mental or | 26 | | physical
condition which existed on the earliest date of |
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| 1 | | service from which he
has uninterrupted service, including | 2 | | prior service, at the date of his
disability, provided | 3 | | that this limitation is not applicable if the date of
| 4 | | disability is after December 31, 2001, nor is it | 5 | | applicable
to a participating employee who: (i) on the | 6 | | date of disability has 5 years
of creditable service, | 7 | | exclusive of creditable service for periods of
disability; | 8 | | or (ii) received no medical treatment for the condition | 9 | | for the 3
years immediately prior to such earliest date of | 10 | | service.
| 11 | | 6. He is not separated from the service of the | 12 | | participating
municipality or instrumentality thereof or | 13 | | participating instrumentality
which employed him on the | 14 | | date his temporary disability was incurred;
for the | 15 | | purposes of payment of temporary disability benefits, a
| 16 | | participating employee, whose employment relationship is | 17 | | terminated by
his employing municipality, shall be deemed | 18 | | not to be separated from the
service of his employing | 19 | | municipality or participating instrumentality
if he | 20 | | continues disabled by the same condition and so long as he | 21 | | is
otherwise entitled to such disability benefit.
| 22 | | 7. He has not failed or refused to consent to and sign | 23 | | an authorization allowing the Board to receive copies of | 24 | | or to examine his medical and hospital records. | 25 | | 8. He has not failed or refused to provide complete | 26 | | information regarding any other employment for |
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| 1 | | compensation he has received since becoming disabled. | 2 | | (Source: P.A. 101-151, eff. 7-26-19.)
| 3 | | (40 ILCS 5/7-149) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 7-149)
| 4 | | Sec. 7-149. Temporary disability benefits; periodic | 5 | | benefits-Periodic checks.
| 6 | | The Board shall conduct periodic checks to determine if | 7 | | any
participating employee is disabled. Such checks may | 8 | | consist of periodic
examinations by one or more licensed and | 9 | | practicing medical professionals with the authority to | 10 | | diagnose the condition or conditions for which temporary | 11 | | disability benefits have been granted a physician or | 12 | | physicians appointed by the Board, requiring
the employee to | 13 | | submit evidence of continuing disability and such other
| 14 | | investigations as the Board may deem appropriate. The | 15 | | following shall
constitute prima facie prima-facie evidence of | 16 | | termination of temporary disability:
| 17 | | (a) A written report by a licensed and practicing medical | 18 | | professional with the authority to diagnose the condition or | 19 | | conditions for which temporary disability benefits have been | 20 | | granted physician appointed by the Board stating that
the | 21 | | temporary disability has ceased;
| 22 | | (b) The earning of compensation by the employee from any | 23 | | source for
personal services, in excess of 25% of the monthly | 24 | | rate of earnings upon
which his disability benefits are based.
| 25 | | (Source: Laws 1965, p. 1086.)
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| 1 | | (40 ILCS 5/7-150) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 7-150)
| 2 | | Sec. 7-150. Total and permanent disability benefits; | 3 | | eligibility benefits - Eligibility . Total and permanent | 4 | | disability benefits shall be payable to
participating | 5 | | employees as hereinafter provided, including those
employees | 6 | | receiving disability benefit on July 1, 1962.
| 7 | | (a) A participating employee shall be considered totally | 8 | | and
permanently disabled if:
| 9 | | 1. He is unable to engage in any gainful activity | 10 | | because of any
medically determinable physical or mental | 11 | | impairment which can be
expected to result in death or be | 12 | | of a long continued and indefinite
duration, other than as | 13 | | a result of self-inflicted
injury or addiction to narcotic | 14 | | drugs;
| 15 | | 2. The Board has received a written certification by | 16 | | at least one 1
licensed and practicing medical | 17 | | professional with the authority to diagnose the condition | 18 | | or conditions for which disability benefits are sought | 19 | | physician stating that the employee meets the
| 20 | | qualifications of subparagraph 1 of this paragraph (a).
| 21 | | (b) A totally and permanently disabled employee is | 22 | | entitled to a
permanent disability benefit provided:
| 23 | | 1. He has exhausted his temporary disability benefits.
| 24 | | 2. He:
| 25 | | (i) has at least one year of service immediately |
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| 1 | | preceding the
date the disability was incurred and has | 2 | | made contributions to the fund
for at least the number | 3 | | of months of service normally required in his
position | 4 | | during a 12 month period, or has at least 5 years of | 5 | | service
credit, the last year of which immediately | 6 | | preceded the date the
disability was incurred; or
| 7 | | (ii) had qualified under clause (i) above, but had | 8 | | an interruption in
service of not more than 3 months in | 9 | | the 12 months preceding the date
the temporary | 10 | | disability was incurred and was not paid a separation | 11 | | benefit; or
| 12 | | (iii) had qualified under clause (i) above, but | 13 | | had an interruption
after 20 or more years of | 14 | | creditable service, was not paid a separation
benefit, | 15 | | and returned to service prior to the date the | 16 | | disability was incurred.
| 17 | | Item (iii) of this subdivision shall apply to all | 18 | | employees
whose disabilities were incurred on or after | 19 | | July 1, 1985, and any such
employee who becomes eligible | 20 | | for a disability benefit under item
(iii) shall be | 21 | | entitled to receive a lump sum payment of any accumulated
| 22 | | disability benefits which may accrue from the date the | 23 | | disability was
incurred until the effective date of this | 24 | | amendatory Act of 1987.
| 25 | | Periods of qualified leave granted in compliance with | 26 | | the federal Family
and Medical Leave Act shall be ignored |
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| 1 | | for purposes of determining the number
of consecutive | 2 | | months of employment under this subdivision (b)2.
| 3 | | 3. He is receiving no earnings from a participating | 4 | | municipality or
instrumentality thereof or participating | 5 | | instrumentality, except as
allowed under subsection (f) of | 6 | | Section 7-152.
| 7 | | 4. He has not refused to submit to a reasonable | 8 | | physical examination
by a licensed and practicing medical | 9 | | professional with the authority to diagnose the condition | 10 | | or conditions for which disability benefits are sought | 11 | | physician appointed by the Board.
| 12 | | 5. His disability is not the result of a mental or | 13 | | physical
condition which existed on the earliest date of | 14 | | service from which he
has uninterrupted service, including | 15 | | prior service, at the date of his
disability, provided | 16 | | that this limitation shall not be applicable to a
| 17 | | participating employee who, without receiving a disability | 18 | | benefit,
receives 5 years of creditable service.
| 19 | | 6. He is not separated from the service of his | 20 | | employing
participating municipality or instrumentality | 21 | | thereof or participating
instrumentality on the date his | 22 | | temporary disability was incurred; for
the purposes of | 23 | | payment of total and permanent disability benefits, a
| 24 | | participating employee, whose employment relationship is | 25 | | terminated by
his employing municipality, shall be deemed | 26 | | not to be separated from the
service of his employing |
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| 1 | | municipality or participating instrumentality
if he | 2 | | continues disabled by the same condition and so long as he | 3 | | is
otherwise entitled to such disability benefit.
| 4 | | 7. He has not refused to apply for a disability | 5 | | benefit under the
Federal Social Security Act at the | 6 | | request of the Board. | 7 | | 8. He has not failed or refused to consent to and sign | 8 | | an authorization allowing the Board to receive copies of | 9 | | or to examine his medical and hospital records. | 10 | | 9. He has not failed or refused to provide complete | 11 | | information regarding any other employment for | 12 | | compensation he has received since becoming disabled.
| 13 | | (c) A participating employee shall remain eligible and may | 14 | | make
application for a total and permanent disability benefit | 15 | | within 90 days
after the termination of his temporary | 16 | | disability benefits or within
such longer period terminating | 17 | | at the end of the period during which his
employing | 18 | | municipality is prevented from employing him by reason of any
| 19 | | statutory prohibition.
| 20 | | (Source: P.A. 101-151, eff. 7-26-19.)
| 21 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 22 | | becoming law.
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