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| [ Introduced ] | [ House Amendment 001 ] |
92_HJ0037eng HJ0037 Engrossed LRB9208804NTsbA 1 HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 37 2 WHEREAS, In 1980, the General Assembly authorized the 3 Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois (TRS) to 4 establish a health insurance program for benefit recipients 5 and their dependents, with annuitants paying 50% of the cost; 6 and 7 WHEREAS, In 1991, the General Assembly authorized TRS to 8 increase the subsidy from 50% to 75% to achieve closer parity 9 with State retirees' health insurance premiums; and 10 WHEREAS, In 1995, the General Assembly transferred the 11 health insurance program from TRS to the State of Illinois, 12 to be administered by the Department of Central Management 13 Services (CMS), and established the Teachers' Retirement 14 Insurance Program (TRIP); and 15 WHEREAS, The General Assembly reduced the premium subsidy 16 for the traditional indemnity plan from 75% to 50%; and 17 WHEREAS, The General Assembly mandated that active 18 teachers pay 0.50% of their salary to help finance the CMS 19 program; and 20 WHEREAS, The General Assembly mandated the State of 21 Illinois to match the contributions of the active teachers to 22 help finance the CMS program; and 23 WHEREAS, The Illinois Economic and Fiscal Commission 24 reported in November of 2000 that current revenues would not 25 be able to fund the current TRIP, with a shortfall of $9.3 26 million by the end of fiscal year 2002; and 27 WHEREAS, The Illinois Economic and Fiscal Commission 28 updated its report in April of 2001, increasing the shortfall 29 to $37.6 million by the end of fiscal year 2002; and 30 WHEREAS, TRS has hired a health insurance actuary to HJ0037 Engrossed -2- LRB9208804NTsbA 1 provide an independent review of the current TRIP funding 2 status and an analysis of TRIP's projected financial needs, 3 along with possible alternative scenarios; and 4 WHEREAS, The Illinois Economic and Fiscal Commission 5 identified 4 possible funding sources for increasing TRIP 6 funding: retiree premiums, active teacher contributions, 7 State contributions, and a new contribution requirement for 8 school districts; and 9 WHEREAS, CMS has proposed an increase to 70% for 10 annuitant and dependent premiums; and 11 WHEREAS, The State's public education system encompasses 12 downstate and suburban as well as Chicago public schools; and 13 WHEREAS, The General Assembly has declared that it is its 14 goal and intention to contribute to the Public School 15 Teachers' Pension and Retirement Fund of Chicago an amount 16 that is between 20% and 30% of the State's annual funding for 17 the downstate and suburban Teachers' Retirement System (found 18 in the Illinois Compiled Statutes at 40 ILCS 5/17-127); and 19 WHEREAS, This statutory funding directive is founded upon 20 both historical practice and equitable principles; and 21 WHEREAS, During the current fiscal year, the State is 22 contributing to the Public School Teachers' Pension and 23 Retirement Fund of Chicago an amount only equal to 9% of the 24 funding provided to the Teachers' Retirement System, and far 25 below the minimum statutory goal; and 26 WHEREAS, For equitable reasons, as well as reasons of 27 financial need, the State's underfunding of the Public School 28 Teachers' Pension and Retirement Fund of Chicago is an issue 29 that should be addressed and corrected; and 30 WHEREAS, It is therefore appropriate to consider the HJ0037 Engrossed -3- LRB9208804NTsbA 1 funding concerns of TRIP in the context of the funding needs 2 of the Public School Teachers' Pension and Retirement Fund of 3 Chicago; therefore, be it 4 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE 5 NINETY-SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE 6 SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that the Governor reduce the 70% 7 proposal by the Department of Central Management Services to 8 a level similar to previous years' increases; and be it 9 further 10 RESOLVED, That a TRIP Funding and Chicago Teachers' 11 Retirement System Task Force be established, composed of 3 12 members appointed by the President of the Senate, 3 members 13 appointed by the Minority Leader of the Senate, 3 members 14 appointed by the Speaker of the House, 3 members appointed by 15 the Minority Leader of the House, one member appointed by the 16 Illinois Retired Teachers Association, one member appointed 17 by the Illinois Education Association, one member appointed 18 by the Illinois Federation of Teachers, one member appointed 19 by the Chicago Teachers Union, 2 members appointed by the 20 Chicago Board of Education, 2 members appointed by the 21 Illinois Statewide School Management Alliance, and the 22 Director of Central Management Services or his or her 23 designee, to study the current funding shortfall of TRIP as 24 well as the financial and equitable needs of the Public 25 School Teachers' Pension and Retirement Fund of Chicago for 26 additional State funding, and to report its recommendations 27 on a solution to the General Assembly on or before November 28 1, 2001; and be it further 29 RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be 30 delivered to the Governor, the Illinois Retired Teachers 31 Association, the Illinois Education Association, the Illinois 32 Federation of Teachers, the Chicago Teachers' Union, the 33 Chicago Board of Education, the Illinois Statewide School HJ0037 Engrossed -4- LRB9208804NTsbA 1 Management Alliance, and the Director of Central Management 2 Services.