The losing side will appeal, so the case will likely end up before the Illinois Supreme Court, but next months decision will impact the course of a consolidation process that is expected to miss a July 1 deadline. He projected the consolidation could yield an extra $2.5 billion in investment returns over five years after the law took effect Jan. 1, 2020. https://www.ai-cio.com/news/court-rejects-legal-challenge-to-illinois-pension-consolidation/, Daily Treasury Par Yield Curve Rates 28 Feb 2023, The Inflationary Effects of Sectoral Reallocation, Daily Treasury Par Yield Curve Rates 23 Feb 2023, On the Limitations of Dataset Balancing: The Lost Battle Against Spurious Correlations, Years of life lost to COVID-19 in 81 countries, Daily Treasury Par Yield Curve Rates 22 Feb 2023, Daily Treasury Par Yield Curve Rates 17 Feb 2023, Daily Treasury Par Yield Curve Rates 16 Feb 2023, CalPERS Refusal to Put Clearly Insolvent Long-Term Care Insurance Plan in Bankruptcy Increases Harm to Policyholders and Makes Board and Responsible Executives Liable. Even without class status, all funds would be impacted if the court overturns the legislation. The consolidation of downstate police and fire pension fund investment assets continues in earnest. Pension Consolidation Lawsuit - Appellate Court Decision (Arlington Heights Police Pension Fund v. Pritzker) I write about retirement policy from an actuary's perspective. Brian Granato Mike Pritchard, Sr. . Officials in more than 650 suburban and downstate Illinois towns need to be laser focused in early 2022 on the implementation of the state's massive investment overhaul of police and firefighter pensions. Governor's Pension Consolidation Feasibility Task Force Report. With the litigation pending, many police funds have held off on moving their assets and the courts decision will come just a month ahead of the deadline, although funds dont face any punitive actions for missing the deadline. 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 Illinois Police Officers' Pension Fund Investment Board is now accepting resumes and RFP's for the following positions: Executive Director General Legal Counsel Administrative Services Please visit this link https://bit.ly/2vXYd8R for the full job description and details on RFP's. Any increase in actual returns will be partly due to the consolidated funds ability to invest in riskier investments. Discovery shareholder, having accepted . This includes 2,826 general purpose governments and 6,097 special purpose governments During a series of State appropriations hearings held by the Illinois General Assembly in both the House and Senate this spring, State agency leaders discussed their budget requests included in Governor Pritzkers We welcome any questions and feedback about the content of this blog. Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Kane County Circuit Court Judge Robert Villa granted summary judgement to the state, prompting an appeal to the Illinois Second District Appellate Court. . Maybe thats because state lawmakers take a problem they arent sure exists, apply a solution they dont know will work and never determine the cost. A separate law passed in December 2010 extended Tier 2 to public safety funds. Attorneys Daniel Konicek and Amanda Hamilton, of Konicek & Dillon, of Geneva, represented the plaintiffs. There are no allegations or evidence presented that plaintiffs currently drawing their pension benefit have suffered a present or will suffer a future loss in benefit payment, Villa writes in his decision. The local boards were entrusted with investing the contributions so that payments could be made to participants. (The other is New York.) It added that if all of the plans complete the transfer, there will be more than $4 billion in assets in the IPOPIF consolidated fund by the end of June. However, each of these claims revolve around the same general premise. Chicago Office | Illinois Policy If funds who delayed their transfer wish to transfer after the May 20 court ruling, we will accommodate them as we are able, White said. Final average salary: Senate Bill 616 restores the higher Tier 1 level based on the average of the highest four of the last five years, instead of the average of the highest eight of the last ten years. In 2019, the Illinois General Assemblypassed a billthat allows for the consolidation of 650 police and firefighter pensions in order to pool their funds into two statewide funds for investment purposesone for police and one for firefighters. The Court also rejected the use of the states police power to reduce pensions, that is, the notion that the greater need to provide basic services could justify reducing pensions, noting that other provisions in the constitution included wording qualifying the promises made as subject to affordability, but that the pension protection wording was absolute. InCarbondale, 290% of the citys property tax collections go to pensions. When Gov. 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 lawsuit alleged that the consolidation violates two provisions of the Illinois Constitution: the pension protection clause and the takings clause. Illinois is home to the nations worst pension crisis, leaving taxpayers on the hook for $317 billion in unfunded pension liabilities for the five statewide retirement systems. t 312.346.5700 f 312.896.2500, Springfield Office | Illinois Policy Illinois Gov. In October the Governors pension consolidation task force recommended three changes in Tier 2 benefits for downstate and suburban police and fire funds, all of which were incorporated into Senate Bill 616. "We also have transfers scheduled for June 1 and June 24. They are seeking to maintain local control over pension management. They are seeking to maintain local control over pension management. 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.. The People ex rel. The plaintiffs claim 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 the consolidation has infringed upon. Illinois lawmakers pass pension sweeteners without knowing the cost, cost $14 million to $19 million more per year. In 1922, the laws governing police pensions were significantly restructured and re-codified forming the statutory basis . The statement was not read and no action was taken during the convention to include language allowing a reasonable power of legislative modification (p 21 - 22). Recent News. 2019 consolidation legislation. Meanwhile, the asset consolidation process is proceeding. To qualify for exemption from Social Security coverage, government workers must receive a retirement benefit from their public pension plan that is at least equal to the benefit they would receive under Social Security. Plaintiffs rights to receive benefit payments are not impacted by these transfers.. While the governors task force publicly stated the enhancements would cost $14 million to $19 million more per year, this number was not backed up by any public data or methodology to justify it. In other words, lawmakers responded to a problem they had not confirmed existed with changes they had not confirmed would fix the problem, without knowing how much the changes would cost. . This effort also proved unsuccessful. But consolidation is a small step for a tiny portion of Illinois pension problem. A state appeals panel has affirmed a ruling that the Illinois state constitution holds no barrier to a law consolidating hundreds of local police and firefighter pension boards into two statewide funds. JB Pritzker signed Senate Bill 1000, which amended the Illinois Pension Code to create the Police Officers Pension Investment Fund and the Firefighters Pension Investment Fund, built through the consolidation of more than 650 otherwise independent downstate and suburban funds. If successful, the lawsuits outcome would apply to every downstate police and firefighter pension fund in Illinois. 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.. Tier 2 workers receive annual benefit increases upon retirement of 3% or one-half of the rise in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), whichever is less, on a simple-interest basis. The State of Illinois, The league stated it is confident it will beat the legal challenge. State law restricts the securities that the existing police and fire funds are allowed to hold. An Illinois Circuit Court judge refused a trial which sought to stop the consolidation of the state's 650 fire and police pension funds, rejecting the plaintiff's claims that a law enacting the decision violated the state constitution.. Failure to comply with IRS rules could result in a significant taxpayer cost if local governments were forced to make retroactive contributions to Social Security, a concern noted by Pritzkers task force on pension consolidation. Attorney Atwell replied that there currently is a consolidation lawsuit and until the court rules, he would hold off at this time. B. Pritzker, Lawsuit, Pension Consolidation, Robert Villa, Ray Dalio Is Now Ranking Economies by Their Strengths and Weaknesses, 702 King Farm Boulevard, Suite 400, Rockville, MD 20850 / +1 212-944-4455 /. This is via the pension protection clause, Article XIII, General Provisions, Section 5, Membership 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.. 802 South 2nd Street | Springfield, IL 62704 Since Tier 2 applies to nearly all pension funds across the State, there could be a move to simply apply the same changes to all funds statewide, also without first determining whether the changes are the minimum necessary so as not to impose additional fiscal hardship on already struggling governments. Report of the Illinois Pension Laws Commission 272 (1917). 3) Increase final average salary. t 217.528.8800 f 312.212.5277 e info@illinoispolicy.org, Copyright 2023 Illinois Policy | Illinois' comeback story starts here. This clause has been construed by our court on numerous occasions, most recently in Kanerva v. Weems, 2014 IL 115811. 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. Public Safety Pension Infographic. In 2019, the Illinois General Assembly passed Public Act 101-0610, which required downstate police and firefighter local pension funds assets to be consolidated into statewide funds for investment purposes. . The Plaintiffs have 30 days to appeal the decision. Simply put, plaintiffs do not own the funds that the Act requires to be transferred to the new statewide police and firefighter pension investment funds. While benefits would continue to be managed by local boards, some police funds and their advocacy organizations resisted the change and a group ofpolice funds early last yearsued to block the implementation, arguing the mandated consolidation equates to a benefit cut. In 1991, the collective ratio was at 75.65% and peaked at 77.31% in 1999. The state, represented by Richard Huszagh, assistant attorney general, has countered that constitutional protections are limited to membership benefits and not fund management. Illinois Supreme Court Justices all stand before, swearing in ceremonies for Justice Lloyd Karmeier as the chief justice of the Illinois Supreme Court Monday, Oct. 31, 2016, in Springfield, Ill. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman), Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoots vaguely worded statements, Illinois 1970 constitution is one of only in two in the nation, overturned the legislation in a 2015 decision. Since our last newsletter, on November 10, 2021 the Although the panel agreed the protection clause covers more than just the payment of pension money, it said past Illinois Supreme Court rulings invoking the clause involved benefits that directly impacted the participants eventual pension benefit, McLaren wrote. The panel rejected the argument the local funds have an established property right in assets or funding levels. The local funds are already required to pay the costs of administration of the local funds, and plaintiffs do not cite any evidence to show that the costs of administration of the new funds, even including startup costs, would be any greater, McLaren wrote. As indicated by the discussion above, determining when or if Tier 2 benefits will violate IRS rules is not simple. We hope you find our website helpful! To the extent that growth in the pensionable salary cap is an issue, it remains to be seen whether Senate Bill 616 solves the problem. Required fields are marked *. In the task force report, the cost is estimated at $70 million to $95 million over five years, or $14 million to $19 million per year, but there is no supporting documentation for the estimate. Lawmakers justified the changes by pointing to potential violations of a provision of federal law known as safe harbor. The Internal Revenue Code requires state and local government employees to either receive Social Security or be part of a retirement system that is at least as generous. It also represented one of the rare actions taken by the state to help local governments on the pension front. Illinois Pension Consolidation Act. Please e-mail[emailprotected]with your query. However, many of the local pension leaders remain hesitant or are even refusing to merge until they learn the outcome of litigation to block Pritzkers law. Gov. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this very important hearing on the fraud that nearly brought down the $4 billion HealthSouth Corporation. While 98% of Illinois pension plans are for 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. Updates on Pension Consolidation Lawsuit 2) Update on Sean Madden Disability Application . Although Judge Robert Villa writes in the ruling that the consolidation undeniably diminished the weight of each individuals board member vote, he also holds that traditional voting rights claims are not at issue. White Paper from the Pension Fairness for Illinois Communities Coalition Consolidation: The Benefits to IL Taxpayers. 10 N. Dearborn St., Suite 800, Chicago, Illinois 60602 This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy The governing board is comprised of Mayors and Village Presidents. Illinois The Illinois Police Officer's Pension Investment Fund told lawmakers during a committee hearing that some individual funds have resisted transferring their assets because of a pending lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the 2019 consolidation law. Shortly thereafter, a member of the Pension Laws Commission sent a follow-up letter to Delegate Green requesting that he read a statement into the convention record expressing the view that the new provision should not be interpreted as reflecting an intent to withdraw from the legislature the authority to make reasonable adjustments or modifications in respect to employee and employer rates of contribution, qualifying service and benefit conditions, and other changes designed to assure the financial stability of pension and retirement funds and that [i]f the provision is interpreted to preclude any legislative changes which may in some incidental way diminish or impair pension benefits it would unnecessarily interfere with a desirable measure of legislative discretion to adopt necessary amendments occasioned by changing economic conditions or other sound reasons. . The main distinction between the case at bar and the aforementioned cases, Villa writes, is that those cases involved traditional voters rights claims such as procedural due process, equal protection, constitutional vagueness, improper delegation of legislative authority, and other guarantees found in the United States and Illinois Constitutions.. Illinois is home to the nation's worst pension crisis, leaving taxpayers on the hook for $317 billion in unfunded pension liabilities for the five statewide retirement systems. of the board members. According to The Wrap, a lawsuit was filed in New York last week on behalf of the Collinsville Police Pension Board, which is an Illinois-based Warner Bros. According to a legal analysis commissioned by the Illinois Municipal League, Tier 2 does not satisfy the safe harbor rules because the pensionable salary cap has not increased as fast as the Social Security wage base. 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. starts here. The lawsuit alleged that the consolidation violates two provisions of the Illinois Constitution: the pension protection clause and the takings clause. As the plaintiffs articulate one example, a retired-beneficiary participant previously had the benefit of a 2.1% vote (1 out of 47) for the one beneficiary selected member of his pension fund, and thus, effectively a 0.43% say regarding the Boards selection of an investment manager or advisor. However, [a]s a result of Public Act 101-0610, he will only have the benefit of a 1/8,830 vote (1 out of 8,830) for the one beneficiary-selected member of the nine-person Permanent Board of the Firefighters Pension Investment Fund, which equates to just a 0.0013% say regarding the Permanent Boards selection of an investment manager or advisor. The plaintiffs also claim that their vested benefits have been diminished because the consolidation law requires each downstate pension fund to ultimately bear all costs of transition, up to $15,000,000, plus interest.. PABF's authority, duty, and responsibility is governed by state statute and administered by the Retirement Board of Trustees ("The Board") in compliance with Act 5 of the Illinois Pension Code.The Fund was first created in 1887 through an act of the Illinois legislature. 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 . Justice Robert McLaren wrote the panels opinion, issued Feb. 7, Pritzker, Raoul: No 'fundamental right' to own, sell 'assault weapons' in IL, ask IL high court to toss TRO, Appeals court: Rockford nurse can only get $2,500 from her lawsuit win, even though county health department violated her abortion conscience rights, 4th Ward Chicago Ald. 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. The original savings estimate was based largely on a different buyout plan; the enacted plan surfaced in the last days of the spring 2018 legislative session and was not vetted by pension actuaries before being approved by lawmakers. J.B. Pritzker championed toconsolidateabout 650 local police and firefighter pension funds from across Illinois under state management by mid-2022. I usually do not take this long to enter rulings on a case even of this size and with this sort of consequence, Kane County Circuit Court Judge Robert K. Villa said at a Monday hearing. Research indicates that consolidation can be a lose/win proposition. (In fact, on only four topics were voters given the ability to vote individually, vs. an all-or-nothing up-or-down vote: cumulative voting for the legislature, election of judges, capital punishment, and the vote for 18 year olds. Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy On February 23, 2021, eighteen police and firefighter pension funds, as well as individual active and retired members of these funds, filed a complaint against Governor Pritzker, the two new consolidated pension investment funds, and others in the Kane County Circuit Court. The plaintiffs are seeking to certify the lawsuit as a class action. This decision recapped not merely the 2013 decision, but included more extensive commentary on Illinois pensions, citing, for example, 1917 and 1957 reports characterizing state and local pension plans as in a condition of insolvency, and a 1969 overall funded status of 41.8%. The three main parts of the pension benefit formula are illustrated below. That provision compares the employees actual accrued pension benefit with the accrued benefit under a safe harbor formula. In December 2019, Gov. Theres been confusion among the stakeholders over the litigations impact should the court overturn the legislation, which would also impact the firefighters fund. The decision asserts, in short, that the delegates knew full well that pensions were not properly funded, and intentionally made the choice to guarantee pensions by means of obliging future generations to pay, no matter what, rather than funding them as they are accrued. . J.B. Pritzker released a task force report calling for the consolidation of downstate municipal fire and police pension funds and called for quick action by But the panel said the complaint contained no argument as to how that requirement would specifically diminish their eventual benefits. lawsuit filed by a handful of . Recently, the Firefighter Pension Investment Fund of Illinois ("FPIF") started the first wave of transfers from firefighters' pension funds on October 1, 2021, despite pending litigation. We are already showing savings and increased earning ability, proving the benefit that was predicted and is needed by this consolidation, said league Executive Director Brian Cole. The state constitutions pension clause bars any diminishment or impairment of promised benefits. Copyright 2023 Ottosen DiNolfo Hasenbalg & Castaldo, Ltd. | Web Design & Hosting: B Square Web. This is a much narrower claim than some have made, including Gov. In addition, the 1970 constitution, and its drafters, cared not in the least for pension funding, only that the benefits are paid out to retirees; and the legislature, in its 2013 benefits-reduction legislation, was not making the case that it could not pay benefits which were due, but that the burden placed on the state budget of prefunding those benefits was too great. J.B. Pritzker announced a plan to consolidate pension funds for suburban and downstate police officers and firefighters at the State of Illinois Building in Chicago on Oct. 10, 2019. About a month ago, Gov. 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. Illinois Unions and other Tier 2 critics are also concerned about the relatively low benefits provided to new employees. At some point, even with the high multiplier, Tier 2 police and fire benefits might not meet the alternative IRS standards, but the analysis does not suggest the timing of any potential violation. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday signed into law the consolidation of 649 downstate and suburban police and fire pension plans into two new pension funds. Patrick Andriesen, Illinois Policy Institute, Woman sues Granite City QuickTrip over parking lot slip, fall, Madison County civil docket Feb. 27-Mar. An Illinois Circuit Court judge hasdenied a lawsuitthat sought to stop the consolidation of the states 650 firefighter and police officer pension funds, rejecting the plaintiffs claims that a law enacting the move violated the states constitution. Ultimately, the combination of unknown costs for the benefit increases and uncertain savings from consolidation means taxpayers should be wary of any potential benefits of this bill. Consolidation of downstate police and fire pension funds made sense by itself, the Illinois Policy Institute previously stated. The law is aimed at easing shortfalls in Illinois local public safety pensions by merging more than $16 billion in assets from the 650 retirement plans into two funds, one for police and one for firefighters. If Tier 2 benefits do not meet the safe harbor tests, either the benefits might have to be increased or employees might have to pay 6.2% of their salary to Social Security, matched by an equal employer contribution. No analysis of the benefit increases was performed by a professional actuary, the specialized financial analysts who estimate pension costs. . In DeKalb, police and fire pension costs use up about20%of general fund revenue, up from 10% in 2014, said city manager Bill Nicklas. J.B. Pritzker. Total downstate police and fire pension debt is only about 5% of Illinois total public pension debt. Senate Bill 616 would consolidate the assets of Illinois 649 public safety funds, not including those in Chicago, into two new funds, one for police and one for fire. In the recent case challenging the consolidation, the plaintiffs follow the example of Buddell by maintaining that Public Act 101-0610 has similarly deprived their vested pension benefits. J.B Pritzker is expected to sign the legislation. What do you think? The initial legislation, which affected most public pension funds in the State, was introduced on March 24, 2010 and passed the same day. 300 S. 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