Bill Text: IL HB4657 | 2009-2010 | 96th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Downstate Firefighter Article of the Illinois Pension Code. Allows an active firefighter to establish creditable service for time spent as an on-call firefighter or volunteer firefighter at the rate of one year of creditable service for each 5 years of time spent as an on-call firefighter or volunteer firefighter, provided that (i) the firefighter has at least 5 years of creditable service as an active firefighter, (ii) the firefighter spent at least 5 years as an on-call firefighter or volunteer firefighter for a municipality, (iii) the firefighter contributes to the Fund an amount representing employee contributions for the number of years of creditable service granted, based on the salary and contribution rate in effect for the firefighter at the date of entry into the Fund, to be determined by the board, (iv) not more than 3 years of creditable service may be granted, and (v) the municipality consents to allow the employee to establish the creditable service. Amends the State Mandates Act to require implementation without reimbursement. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-03-26 - Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HB4657 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2009-HB4657-Introduced.html

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96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2009 and 2010 HB4657 Introduced , by Rep. Careen M. Gordon SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
40 ILCS 5/4-108 from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 4-108
30 ILCS 805/8.34 new
Amends the Downstate Firefighter Article of the Illinois Pension Code. Allows an active firefighter to establish creditable service for time spent as an on-call firefighter or volunteer firefighter at the rate of one year of creditable service for each 5 years of time spent as an on-call firefighter or volunteer firefighter, provided that (i) the firefighter has at least 5 years of creditable service as an active firefighter, (ii) the firefighter spent at least 5 years as an on-call firefighter or volunteer firefighter for a municipality, (iii) the firefighter contributes to the Fund an amount representing employee contributions for the number of years of creditable service granted, based on the salary and contribution rate in effect for the firefighter at the date of entry into the Fund, to be determined by the board, (iv) not more than 3 years of creditable service may be granted, and (v) the municipality consents to allow the employee to establish the creditable service. Amends the State Mandates Act to require implementation without reimbursement. Effective immediately.
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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY PENSION IMPACT NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning public employee benefits.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Illinois Pension Code is amended by changing
Section 4-108 as follows:
(40 ILCS 5/4-108) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 4-108)
Sec. 4-108. Creditable service.
(a) Creditable service is the time served as a firefighter
of a municipality. In computing creditable service, furloughs
and leaves of absence without pay exceeding 30 days in any one
year shall not be counted, but leaves of absence for illness or
accident regardless of length, and periods of disability for
which a firefighter received no disability pension payments
under this Article, shall be counted.
(b) Furloughs and leaves of absence of 30 days or less in
any one year may be counted as creditable service, if the
firefighter makes the contribution to the fund that would have
been required had he or she not been on furlough or leave of
absence. To qualify for this creditable service, the
firefighter must pay the required contributions to the fund not
more than 90 days subsequent to the termination of the furlough
or leave of absence, to the extent that the municipality has
not made such contribution on his or her behalf.

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(c) Creditable service includes:
(1) Service in the military, naval or air forces of the
United States entered upon when the person was an active
firefighter, provided that, upon applying for a permanent
pension, and in accordance with the rules of the board the
firefighter pays into the fund the amount that would have
been contributed had he or she been a regular contributor
during such period of service, if and to the extent that
the municipality which the firefighter served made no such
contributions in his or her behalf. The total amount of
such creditable service shall not exceed 5 years, except
that any firefighter who on July 1, 1973 had more than 5
years of such creditable service shall receive the total
amount thereof as of that date.
(1.5) Up to 24 months of service in the military,
naval, or air forces of the United States that was served
prior to employment by a municipality or fire protection
district as a firefighter. To receive the credit for the
military service prior to the employment as a firefighter,
the firefighter must apply in writing to the fund and must
make contributions to the fund equal to (i) the employee
contributions that would have been required had the service
been rendered as a member, plus (ii) an amount determined
by the fund to be equal to the employer's normal cost of
the benefits accrued for that military service, plus (iii)
interest at the actuarially assumed rate provided by the

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Department of Financial and Professional Regulation,
compounded annually from the first date of membership in
the fund to the date of payment on items (i) and (ii). The
changes to this paragraph (1.5) by this amendatory Act of
the 95th General Assembly apply only to participating
employees in service on or after its effective date.
(2) Service prior to July 1, 1976 by a firefighter
initially excluded from participation by reason of age who
elected to participate and paid the required contributions
for such service.
(3) Up to 8 years of service by a firefighter as an
officer in a statewide firefighters' association when he is
on a leave of absence from a municipality's payroll,
provided that (i) the firefighter has at least 10 years of
creditable service as an active firefighter, (ii) the
firefighter contributes to the fund the amount that he
would have contributed had he remained an active member of
the fund, and (iii) the employee or statewide firefighter
association contributes to the fund an amount equal to the
employer's required contribution as determined by the
board.
(4) Time spent as an on-call firefighter or volunteer
firefighter fireman for a municipality, calculated at the
rate of one year of creditable service for each 5 years of
time spent as an on-call firefighter or volunteer
firefighter fireman, provided that (i) the firefighter has

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at least 5 18 years of creditable service as an active
firefighter, (ii) the firefighter spent at least 5 14 years
as an on-call firefighter or volunteer firefighter for a
the municipality, (iii) the firefighter applies for such
creditable service within 30 days after the effective date
of this amendatory Act of 1989, (iv) the firefighter
contributes to the Fund an amount representing employee
contributions for the number of years of creditable service
granted under this subdivision (4), based on the salary and
contribution rate in effect for the firefighter at the date
of entry into the Fund, to be determined by the board, (iv)
and (v) not more than 3 years of creditable service may be
granted under this subdivision (4), and (v) the
municipality consents to allow the employee to establish
the creditable service.
Except as provided in Section 4-108.5, creditable
service shall not include time spent as a volunteer
firefighter, whether or not any compensation was received
therefor. The change made in this Section by Public Act
83-0463 is intended to be a restatement and clarification
of existing law, and does not imply that creditable service
was previously allowed under this Article for time spent as
a volunteer firefighter.
(5) Time served between July 1, 1976 and July 1, 1988
in the position of protective inspection officer or
administrative assistant for fire services, for a

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municipality with a population under 10,000 that is located
in a county with a population over 3,000,000 and that
maintains a firefighters' pension fund under this Article,
if the position included firefighting duties,
notwithstanding that the person may not have held an
appointment as a firefighter, provided that application is
made to the pension fund within 30 days after the effective
date of this amendatory Act of 1991, and the corresponding
contributions are paid for the number of years of service
granted, based upon the salary and contribution rate in
effect for the firefighter at the date of entry into the
pension fund, as determined by the Board.
(6) Service before becoming a participant by a
firefighter initially excluded from participation by
reason of age who becomes a participant under the amendment
to Section 4-107 made by this amendatory Act of 1993 and
pays the required contributions for such service.
(7) Up to 3 years of time during which the firefighter
receives a disability pension under Section 4-110,
4-110.1, or 4-111, provided that (i) the firefighter
returns to active service after the disability for a period
at least equal to the period for which credit is to be
established and (ii) the firefighter makes contributions
to the fund based on the rates specified in Section 4-118.1
and the salary upon which the disability pension is based.
These contributions may be paid at any time prior to the

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commencement of a retirement pension. The firefighter may,
but need not, elect to have the contributions deducted from
the disability pension or to pay them in installments on a
schedule approved by the board. If not deducted from the
disability pension, the contributions shall include
interest at the rate of 6% per year, compounded annually,
from the date for which service credit is being established
to the date of payment. If contributions are paid under
this subdivision (c)(7) in excess of those needed to
establish the credit, the excess shall be refunded. This
subdivision (c)(7) applies to persons receiving a
disability pension under Section 4-110, 4-110.1, or 4-111
on the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 91st
General Assembly, as well as persons who begin to receive
such a disability pension after that date.
(Source: P.A. 94-856, eff. 6-15-06; 95-1056, eff. 4-10-09.)
Section 90. The State Mandates Act is amended by adding
Section 8.34 as follows:
(30 ILCS 805/8.34 new)
Sec. 8.34. 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 96th General Assembly.
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon

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becoming law.