1970, art. "The Illinois Police Officers Pension Investment Fund (IPOPIF) is pleased that the court has indicated a date on which a written ruling will be issued. Illinois effort to fix ailing local pensions faces legal hurdle A 2019 law championed by Gov. The funded health of the public safety pension funds has tumbled over the years. A Tier 2 public safety employees final average salary, which serves as the basis for calculating monthly and annual pension payments at the end of a career, will now be based on the highest four out of the last five years rather than the highest eight of the last 10. The Civic Federation urges the Governors Office and sponsors of Senate Bill 616 to demonstrate the need for the specific Tier 2 enhancements in the legislation. Some Republican lawmakers who voted against the bill raised the lack of a cost estimate during legislative debates, including Sen. Jason Barickman, R-Bloomington. The amendment doesnt mandate those loans, nor is there evidence it reduces available funding to pay promised benefits. Youre invited to comment at JaneTheActuary.com! The lawsuit alleged that the consolidation violates two provisions of the Illinois Constitution: the pension protection clause and the takings clause. Up to now, neither the Governors task force nor supporters of Senate Bill 616 have publicly provided actuarial reviews showing the cost of the Tier 2 changes for the affected police and fire funds. . cost of the Tier 2 benefit in FY2019 was 7.1%, holds great significance for first responders, An Inventory of Local Governments in Illinois: Municipalities, Inventory of Local Governments in Illinois, Illinois Criminal Justice System Agency Budget Requests for Fiscal Year 2022, An Inventory of Local Governments in Illinois: Townships, An Inventory of Local Governments in Illinois, The Graduated Income Tax Proposal: An Issue Brief, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. 802 South 2nd Street | Springfield, IL 62704 Illinois police, firefighters push back on state control of pensions, In DeKalb, police and fire pension costs use up about, In Peoria, Mayor Rita Ali recently called on state leaders to fix pension costs on which the city will. If the court sides with the plaintiffs and overturns the legislation the appeal would go directly to the Illinois Supreme Court due to the constitutional question at hand. The ruling states that voting is not currently a benefit under the pension clause of the state constitution, pointing out that the courts have yet to hold that the right to vote for pension fund board members falls within the protections of the Pension Clause. It also rules that the takings clause claim cant be tied to real property as required under Illinois law. The Illinois Supreme Court found that the plaintiff had a substantive and vested right to apply for military service credit because there was no limit on applying for such credit when he joined the pension fund. Your email address will not be published. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this very important hearing on the fraud that nearly brought down the $4 billion HealthSouth Corporation. The Illinois Police Officers' Pension Investment Fund told lawmakers during a committee hearing that some individual funds have resisted moving their assets because of pending litigation challenging the constitutionality of the 2019 consolidation legislation. The report, prepared by Chicago-based Anderson Economic. Later still, the plaintiff tried to apply for military service credit, but was denied because he had not applied before the deadline. More than $13. Ill. Const. The task force report said the following changes were intended to address concerns about the fairness of Tier 2 and to avoid running afoul of IRS regulations: The first change, involving benefits paid to surviving spouses, is not expected to affect many individuals and reportedly holds great significance for first responders. . The task force savings estimates of between $160 million and $288 million annually are almost certainly too optimistic. The new Police Officers Pension Investment Fund sought legislation during the spring session to push off the deadline by a year but it stalled. 300 S. Riverside Plaza | 1650 | Chicago, IL 60606 The Newsletter Bringing the Legal System to Light. Police and fire pension costs for DeKalb, Illinois, use up about 20% of general fund revenue, up from 10% in 2014, city manager Bill Nicklas said in an interview. Governor JB Pritzker, too, has claimed that theres nothing to be done except to find more money, and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoots vaguely worded statements about the matter dont amount to anything more, either. Once the trial court issues its ruling, the case will likely be appealed by the losing party. The wage base is adjusted each year by the change in the national average wage index. The plaintiffs claimed that they had a contractual and enforceable right to exclusively manage and control their investment expenditures and income, including interest dividends, capital gains and other distributions on investments, which they said the consolidation infringed upon. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy Nathan Woodside/Lewis & Clark Community College. InCarbondale, 290% of the citys property tax collections go to pensions. Salaries can grow beyond the cap, but the portion that is used to calculate pension benefits cannot. Recent News. However, as pointed out by the Civic Federation, lawmakers never definitively established that a safe harbor violation existed for Tier 2 public safety workers, nor that the changes in this bill were the minimum necessary to bring the plans into compliance. In 2019, the Illinois General Assembly passed a bill that allows for the consolidation of 650 police and fire pensions to consolidate their funds into two . . The increase for most workers hired before 2011 (but not Chicago public safety and some other employees) is 3% on a compounded basis. It recommended that additional introductory language be added specifying that the rights conferred thereunder were [s]ubject to the authority of the General Assembly to enact reasonable modifications in employee rates of contribution, minimum service requirements and the provisions pertaining to the fiscal soundness of the retirement systems.. In Peoria, Mayor Rita Ali recently called on state leaders to fix pension costs on which the city willnever catch up, not in our lifetimes.. Taxpayers must not allow Springfield to pretend theyve solved the pension problem. 3, Motorist sues over crash with vehicle stolen from East St. Louis store, Wrongful death suit alleges resident at Alton nursing home received negligent care, Insurer seeks to deny coverage of suit alleging crash evidence was destroyed, Don't assume more funding makes schools better, Illinois torched business and common sense with its biometric privacy law, Illinois forward 2024: A sustainable state budget plan, Illinois tries to 'cancel' DeSantis as Pritzker, Chicago mayoral contenders play the de-platforming game. The plan has modest fiscal goals. J.B Pritzker is expected to sign the legislation. The task force also noted that these estimated costs are minor compared to increases in investment returns projected to be earned by the consolidated funds compared with the 649 existing police and fire funds. https://ift.tt/xkdXGS1 The state judge overseeing the constitutional challenge of Illinois' effort to consolidate suburban Chicago and downstate police pension fund assets will render a decision May 20.The losing side will appeal, so the case will likely end up before the Illinois Supreme Court, but next month's decision will impact the course of a consolidation process Research indicates that consolidation can be a lose/win proposition. J.B. Pritzker announced his support for a plan for the state to combine roughly 650 suburban and Downstate police and fire pension funds last month, the Illinois Fraternal Order of . From this, the Illinois Supreme Court has held that public employees have an inviolable contractual right to their vested pension benefits, which cannot be diminished or impaired. The courts decision rests on its interpretation of what constitutes a benefit., The case Arlington Heights Police Pension Fund et al v. Jay Robert Pritzker et al argues that benefits are damaged because the law strips plaintiffs of their autonomy and their authority.. What do you think? t 217.528.8800 f 312.212.5277 e info@illinoispolicy.org, Copyright 2023 Illinois Policy | Illinois' comeback story starts here. Illinois Police Officers' Pension Investment Fund Skip to Main Content ***IPOPIF Board has Elected New Officers*** Contact Newsletter About Actuarial Reports FOIA Governing Documents Trustee Election Meetings Reports Resources RFP & Recruitments Investment Reports Blue Line Mugshots Staff Directory Investments The league stated it is confident it will beat the legal challenge. The fund said that approximately 90% of local firefighterpension funds have successfully completed the transition process so far, and that it is working with the remaining funds to do the same. More than $13 billion in debt was owed to local downstate public safety pension plans through 2020, according to Illinois Department of Insurance data. Court Rejects Legal Challenge to Illinois Pension Consolidation, Ray Dalio Is Now Ranking Economies by Their Strengths and Weaknesses, Pension Risk Transfers: What to Watch Out For, Kentucky Retirement System Trustees Say It Is Not Subject to State's Anti-ESG Law, Sequoia Capital, Thoma Bravo, Paradigm Sued for Touting FTX, Ohio STRS Loses 9.52% in 2022, Board Rejects Neville Vote of Confidence. Pensionable salary cap: The Tier 2 pensionable salary cap currently increases at one-half of CPI or 3%, whichever is less. Municipalities have until July 1 to transfer all assets from their locally managed pension funds . Previously, employees hired after 2011 needed to work at least 10 years and vest before survivor benefits were available. In recent years, the State has frequently rushed to enact pension changes without actuarial evaluation and public disclosure of their financial impact. The latest example involved pension buyouts, which were budgeted to reduce General Funds contributions by more than $400 million in FY2019 but ended up saving about $13 million that year. Litigation. If successful, the lawsuits outcome would apply to every downstate police and firefighter pension fund in Illinois. They argued the consolidation would strip them of the right to elect local pension board members and for those local boards to control and invest money. a group of Police Fund last year Arguing mandated consolidation, the lawsuit to block . Article XIII, Section 5, of the Illinois Constitution, commonly known as the Pension Protection Clause, provides that [m]embership in any pension or retirement system of the State, any unit of local government or school district, or any agency or instrumentality thereof, shall be an enforceable contractual relationship, the benefits of which shall not be diminished or impaired. Ill. Const. The state's pension consolidation task force reported doing so could earn the funds an extra $2.5 billion altogether over the next five years. Attorney Atwell replied that there currently is a consolidation lawsuit and until the court rules, he would hold off at this time. It also said there are another 93 funds currently going through the process to transfer funds on either June 1 or June 24. Illinois' Fraternal Order of Police is among the groups opposed to the idea. lawsuit filed by a handful of . Challenging the amendment directly, plaintiffs also argued it violates the state constitutions takings clause regarding public use of private property. Total downstate police and fire pension debt is only about 5% of Illinois total public pension debt. The pension problem: Illinois Quad-Cities turn to borrowing to pay down unfunded pension liability Cities across Illinois are scrambling to find ways to stockpile the money they'll need to. They are seeking to maintain local control over pension management. Gov. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Your email address will not be published. House Committee Meeting Hide Overview . Theres been confusion among the stakeholders over the litigations impact should the court overturn the legislation, which would also impact the firefighters fund. . But the panel said the complaint contained no argument as to how that requirement would specifically diminish their eventual benefits. 300 S. 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