Date Pubhlished: April 16, 2012
Colleagues:
HJRCA49 (http://tinyurl.com/HJRCA0049) has been introduced in the Illinois House of Representatives by Speaker Michael Madigan. This amendment to the Illinois Constitution would require a 3/5ths vote by any governmental body - from local school districts and municipalities to the General Assembly - in order to increase pension benefits by public employees. If this amendment should be ratified by the electorate in the coming November election, it would become effective on January 9, 2013. The amendment would present an almost insurmountable hurdle to improve the Tier II pension option for those state employees hired after January 1, 2011. The bill will be considered by the House Personnel and Pensions Committee tomorrow (Tuesday) morning at 10:00am; the State Universities Annuitants Association (SUAA) recommends that SURS participants contact members of the Committee TODAY to request that they vote "Nay" or "Present."
Other pension-related news: Rep. Daniel Biss (D-17), a member of the Personnel and Pensions Committee, will hold a town hall meeting on pension issues on Monday, April 30th at 7:00pm at the Glenview Police Station, 2500 E. Lake Av, Glenview.
Reminder: Keep up with retirement issues and legislation on the joint APAC/UIC SUAA blog at http://uicretirement.blogspot.com/.
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What measure does it currently take to change the pension benefits? Is 3/5ths that much more stringent than before?
ReplyDeleteKappy Laing addressed this at yesterday's event "Springfield Report" - you can watch the video, which is now posted on the blog. She indicated that the legislation had significant momentum and seems basically unstoppable. A primary concern is that it could complicate University efforts to improve Tier II benefits for new eployees, which are currently a barrier to recruiting and retaining top talent.
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