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| Public Act 098-0391
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| HB1375 Enrolled | LRB098 04254 EFG 34281 b |
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AN ACT concerning public employee retirement benefits.
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Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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represented in the General Assembly:
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Section 5. The Illinois Pension Code is amended by changing |
Section 4-114 as follows:
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(40 ILCS 5/4-114) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 4-114)
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Sec. 4-114. Pension to survivors. If a firefighter who is |
not receiving a
disability pension under Section 4-110 or |
4-110.1 dies (1) as a result of any
illness or accident, or (2) |
from any cause while in receipt of a disability
pension under |
this Article, or (3) during retirement after 20 years service, |
or
(4) while vested for or in receipt of a pension payable |
under subsection (b)
of Section 4-109, or (5) while a deferred |
pensioner, having made all required
contributions, a pension |
shall be paid to his or her survivors, based on the
monthly |
salary attached to the firefighter's rank on the last day of |
service
in the fire department, as follows:
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(a)(1) To the surviving spouse, a monthly pension of
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40% of the monthly salary, and if there is a surviving |
spouse, to the guardian of any minor child or
children |
including a child which has been conceived but not yet |
born, 12%
of such monthly salary for each such child until |
attainment of age 18 or
until the child's marriage, |
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whichever occurs first. Beginning July 1,
1993, the monthly |
pension to the surviving spouse shall be 54% of the
monthly |
salary for all persons receiving a surviving spouse pension |
under
this Article, regardless of whether the deceased |
firefighter was in service
on or after the effective date |
of this amendatory Act of 1993.
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(2) Beginning July 1, 2004, unless the amount provided |
under paragraph (1) of this subsection (a) is greater, the |
total monthly pension payable under
this paragraph (a), |
including any amount payable on account of children, to the |
surviving spouse of a firefighter who died (i) while
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receiving a retirement pension, (ii) while he or she was a |
deferred pensioner with at least 20 years of creditable |
service, or (iii) while he or she was in active service |
having at least 20 years of creditable service, regardless |
of age, shall be no less than 100% of the monthly |
retirement pension earned by
the deceased firefighter at |
the time of death, regardless of whether death occurs |
before or after attainment of age 50, including any
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increases under Section 4-109.1. This minimum applies to |
all such surviving
spouses who are eligible to receive a |
surviving spouse pension, regardless of
whether the |
deceased firefighter was in service on or after the |
effective date
of this amendatory Act of the 93rd General |
Assembly, and notwithstanding any
limitation on maximum |
pension under paragraph (d) or any other provision of
this |
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Article.
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(3) If the pension paid on and after July 1, 2004 to |
the surviving spouse of a firefighter who died on or after |
July 1, 2004 and before the effective date of this |
amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly was less than |
the minimum pension payable under paragraph (1) or (2) of |
this subsection (a), the fund shall pay a lump sum equal to |
the difference within 90 days after the effective date of |
this amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly.
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The pension to the surviving spouse shall terminate in |
the event of the
surviving spouse's remarriage prior to |
July 1, 1993; remarriage on or after
that date does not |
affect the surviving spouse's pension, regardless of
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whether the deceased firefighter was in service on or after |
the effective
date of this amendatory Act of 1993.
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The surviving spouse's pension shall be subject to the |
minimum established
in Section 4-109.2.
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(b) Upon the death of the surviving spouse leaving one |
or more minor
children, or upon the death of a firefighter |
leaving one or more minor
children but no surviving spouse, |
to the duly appointed guardian of each such child, for |
support
and maintenance of each such child until the child |
reaches age 18 or
marries, whichever occurs first, a |
monthly pension of 20% of the monthly
salary.
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In a case where the deceased firefighter left one or |
more minor children but no surviving spouse and the |
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guardian of a child is receiving a pension of 12% of the |
monthly salary on the effective date of this amendatory |
Act, the pension is increased by this amendatory Act to 20% |
of the monthly salary for each such child, beginning on the |
pension payment date occurring on or next following the |
effective date of this amendatory Act. The changes to this |
Section made by this amendatory Act of the 98th General |
Assembly apply without regard to whether the deceased |
firefighter was in service
on or after the effective date |
of this amendatory Act. |
(c) If a deceased firefighter leaves no surviving |
spouse or unmarried
minor children under age 18, but leaves |
a dependent father or mother, to
each dependent parent a |
monthly pension of 18% of the monthly salary. To
qualify |
for the pension, a dependent parent must furnish |
satisfactory proof
that the deceased firefighter was at the |
time of his or her death the sole
supporter of the parent |
or that the parent was the deceased's dependent for
federal |
income tax purposes.
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(d) The total pension provided under paragraphs (a), |
(b) and (c) of this
Section shall not exceed 75% of the |
monthly salary of the deceased firefighter
(1) when paid to |
the survivor of a firefighter who has attained 20 or more
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years of service credit and who receives or is eligible to |
receive a retirement
pension under this Article, or (2) |
when paid to the survivor of a firefighter
who dies as a |
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result of illness or accident, or (3) when paid to the |
survivor
of a firefighter who dies from any cause while in |
receipt of a disability
pension under this Article, or (4) |
when paid to the survivor of a deferred
pensioner. For all |
other survivors of deceased firefighters, the total |
pension
provided under paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of this |
Section shall not exceed 50%
of the retirement annuity the |
firefighter would have received on the date of
death.
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The maximum pension limitations in this paragraph (d) |
do not control
over any contrary provision of this Article |
explicitly establishing a minimum
amount of pension or |
granting a one-time or annual increase in pension.
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(e) If a firefighter leaves no eligible survivors under |
paragraphs (a),
(b) and (c), the board shall refund to the |
firefighter's estate the amount
of his or her accumulated |
contributions, less the amount of pension
payments, if any, |
made to the firefighter while living.
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(f) (Blank).
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(g) If a judgment of dissolution of marriage between a |
firefighter and
spouse is judicially set aside subsequent |
to the firefighter's death, the
surviving spouse is |
eligible for the pension provided in paragraph (a) only
if |
the judicial proceedings are filed within 2 years after the |
date of the
dissolution of marriage and within one year |
after the firefighter's death and
the board is made a party |
to the proceedings. In such case the pension shall be
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payable only from the date of the court's order setting |
aside the judgment of
dissolution of marriage.
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(h) Benefits payable on account of a child under this |
Section shall
not be reduced or terminated by reason of the |
child's attainment of age 18
if he or she is then dependent |
by reason of a physical or mental disability
but shall |
continue to be paid as long as such dependency continues.
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Individuals over the age of 18 and adjudged as a disabled |
person pursuant
to Article XIa of the Probate Act of 1975, |
except for persons receiving
benefits under Article III of |
the Illinois Public Aid Code, shall be
eligible to receive |
benefits under this Act.
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(i) Beginning January 1, 2000, the pension of the |
surviving spouse of
a firefighter who dies on or after |
January 1, 1994 as a result of sickness,
accident, or |
injury incurred in or resulting from the performance of an |
act of
duty or from the cumulative effects of acts of duty |
shall not be less than 100%
of the salary attached to the |
rank held by the deceased firefighter on the last
day of |
service, notwithstanding subsection (d) or any other |
provision of
this Article.
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(j) Beginning July 1, 2004, the pension of the |
surviving spouse of
a firefighter who dies on or after |
January 1, 1988 as a result of sickness,
accident, or |
injury incurred in or resulting from the performance of an |
act of
duty or from the cumulative effects of acts of duty |
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shall not be less than 100%
of the salary attached to the |
rank held by the deceased firefighter on the last
day of |
service, notwithstanding subsection (d) or any other |
provision of
this Article.
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Notwithstanding any other provision of this Article, if a |
person who first becomes a firefighter under this Article on or |
after January 1, 2011 and who is not receiving a
disability |
pension under Section 4-110 or 4-110.1 dies (1) as a result of |
any
illness or accident, (2) from any cause while in receipt of |
a disability
pension under this Article, (3) during retirement |
after 20 years service, (4) while vested for or in receipt of a |
pension payable under subsection (b)
of Section 4-109, or (5) |
while a deferred pensioner, having made all required
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contributions, then a pension shall be paid to his or her |
survivors in the amount of 66 2/3% of the firefighter's earned |
pension at the date of death. Nothing in this Section shall act |
to diminish the
survivor's benefits described in subsection (j) |
of this Section. |
Notwithstanding any other provision of this Article, the |
monthly
pension of a survivor of a person who first becomes a |
firefighter under this Article on or after January 1, 2011 |
shall be increased on the January 1 after attainment of age 60 |
by the recipient of the survivor's pension and
each January 1 |
thereafter by 3% or one-half the annual unadjusted percentage |
increase in the consumer price index-u for the
12 months ending |
with the September preceding each November 1, whichever is |
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less, of the originally granted survivor's pension. If the |
annual unadjusted percentage change in
the consumer price |
index-u for a 12-month period ending in September is zero or, |
when compared with the preceding period, decreases, then the |
survivor's pension shall not
be increased. |
For the purposes of this Section, "consumer price index-u" |
means the index published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of |
the United States Department of Labor that measures the average |
change in prices of goods and services purchased by all urban |
consumers, United States city average, all items, 1982-84 = |
100. The new amount resulting from each annual adjustment shall |
be determined by the Public Pension Division of the Department |
of Insurance and made available to the boards of the pension |
funds. |
(Source: P.A. 95-279, eff. 1-1-08; 96-1495, eff. 1-1-11.)
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Section 90. The State Mandates Act is amended by adding |
Section 8.37 as follows:
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(30 ILCS 805/8.37 new) |
Sec. 8.37. Exempt mandate. Notwithstanding Sections 6 and 8 |
of this Act, no reimbursement by the State is required for the |
implementation of any mandate created by this amendatory Act of |
the 98th General Assembly.
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Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon |
becoming law.
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