The 98th General Assembly adjourned on May 31, 2013, without taking action on pension "reform."
Following the end of the regular session, Governor Quinn called a special session of the Illinois General Assembly on June 19 to deal with State of Illinois pension fund issues.
The special session ended with the formation of a conference committee. The committee is charged with developing a comprehensive pension reform bill for the State of Illinois pension funds. (CTPF is not a State of Illinois fund).
Members of the conference committee will work together to resolve differences between the House and the Senate. When a majority of committee members reach agreement, they will issue a pension reform amendment to the General Assembly for further action. Another special session has been called for July 8. The Governor has asked the committee to complete its work and make a recommendation for comprehensive pension reform by July 9.
State Pension Funds
While the conference committee has been convened specifically to deal with State of Illinois pension funds, CTPF is carefully monitoring events in Springfield. Any agreement reached could be used as a model for our fund and other non-state pension funds. CTPF will update members as issues or legislation develops.
Spring Legislation Impacting CTPF
Following are bills impacting CTPF which passed or failed during the 98th Legislative Assembly.
HB 206: State Appropriations
Status: Signed by Governor Quinn, now public act 098-0017
House Chief Sponsor:
Speaker Madigan
Senate Chief Sponsors: President Cullerton, Senators Steans and Trotter
SUMMARY: This bill makes appropriations to various agencies. CTPF
will receive a Fiscal Year 2014 State contribution in the amount of
$11.9 million. The suburban/downstate system, Teachers Retirement System (TRS), will receive an appropriation of $3.4 billion.
HB 2583 Accountability for charter schools
Status: Passed both houses, waiting governor's signature
House Chief Sponsor: Representative Burke
Senate Chief Sponsors: Senators Munoz and Sandavol
SUMMARY: Provides stricter requirements for charter schools that are delinquent in payroll submissions and holds charter schools accountable for making timely payroll contributions on behalf of all certified employees. The legislation also requires each school to appoint a pension officer.
HB 2767 CTPF Board of Trustee Election Revisions
(Originally filed as SB 1544 and HB 3088)
Status: Passed both houses, waiting governor's signature
House Chief Sponsors: Representatives Kifowit, Conroy, Yingling, Sandack, Evans and 13 additional co-sponsors
Senate Chief Sponsors: Senators Martinez and T. Cullerton
SUMMARY: This bill corrects a technical issue by amending language to allow the CTPF Board of Trustees to fill elected-member vacancies that may occur on the Board of Trustees including those for teachers, administrators, or pensioners. The previous language did not specifically include the word administrators. This bill also modernizes and updates the language concerning CTPF Board of Trustee elections to allow expanded options for voting.
HB 2620 Clarify Procurement Requirement for Existing Fund Managers
Status: Passed both houses, waiting governor's signature
House Chief Sponsor: Representative Riley
Senate Chief Sponsor: Senator Biss
SUMMARY: This bill allows CTPF to make a follow-on association to a successor fund without issuing a new Request for Proposal, where it is necessary to fulfill the fund's investment plan.
SB 1920, HA #2: Extension of CPS Pension Holiday for FY 2014 and 2015
Status: This bill passed out of committee on a vote of 6-4, and failed the House on a vote of 39-78
House Chief Sponsor: Representative Nekrtiz
Senate Chief Sponsor: President Cullerton
Summary: This bill would have allowed an additional pension holiday for the Chicago Public Schools which would have cost CTPF an additional $350 million in revenue over the next two years.
Other Legislation
CTPF supported following bills which failed to move forward during the 98th legislative session. Similar legislation could be re-introduced in future sessions.
1. SB 1919/HB 2751 Eliminate the employer's practice of offsetting State of Illinois contributions
Status: Re-referred to rules/assignments.
Sponsored by Senator Kwame Raoul and Representative Arthur Turner
SUMMARY: Required that any State of Illinois contributions received by CTPF will be in addition to CPS contributions.
2. SB 1926/HB 2652 Increase State of Illinois contributions to CTPF
Status: Re-referred to rules/assignments.
Sponsored by Senators Emil Jones III, Napoleon Harris III, and Representative Monique D. Davis
SUMMARY: Increased the 2014 state contribution to CTPF to $344 million and required a State of Illinois contribution in future years equal to 10% of the amount authorized for the downstate Teachers' Retirement System (TRS).
3. HB 2789 Health insurance reimbursement stabilization
Status: passed committee 9-0, held on 2nd reading in the house, re-referred to rules committee
Sponsored by Senator Donne E. Trotter and Representatives Elgie R. Sims, Jr., Daniel J. Burke, Esther Golar, Maria Antonia Berrios, and Cynthia Soto
SUMMARY: Removed the $65 million spending cap which limits the amount CTPF can reimburse for health insurance premium subsidies, and changed the eligibility requirements and formula for calculating health insurance benefits. Under this legislation, beginning in FY 2014, participants would have received reimbursement for health insurance benefits in the amount of 2.2% times the number of years of creditable service, up to a maximum of 50%.
This legislation was supported by the Retired Teachers Association of Chicago (RTAC) and the Chicago Principals and Administrators Association CPAA.
CTPF's Role
The Illinois legislature determines the laws and rules that govern our fund and other public pension systems. The CTPF Board of Trustees administers the law and protects the Fund's finances to ensure retirement security for all members.
not on the Chicago teachers' or the Chicago charter school teachers' salary schedule, or 
2013-2014 Pension Payment Schedule 
