Bill Text: IL HB5684 | 2015-2016 | 99th General Assembly | Chaptered


Bill Title: Amends the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF) Article of the Illinois Pension Code. Provides that any payment that (i) is made by a participating municipality to an employee during the year before the employee's termination of service and after the employee has expressed to the municipality his or her intent to retire and (ii) would have the effect of increasing the employee's rate of earnings by more than 6%, shall not be deemed to be "earnings" for pension purposes and shall not be included in the determination of the rate of earnings, unless the governing board of the municipality has separately confirmed that payment to that specific employee, by ordinance or resolution, at a meeting open to the public and posted and held in accordance with the requirements of the Open Meetings Act. Amends the Open Meetings Act to make a conforming change. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Passed) 2016-07-28 - Public Act . . . . . . . . . 99-0646 [HB5684 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2015-HB5684-Chaptered.html



Public Act 099-0646
HB5684 EnrolledLRB099 19522 EFG 43916 b
AN ACT concerning public employee benefits.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Local
Government Wage Increase Transparency Act.
Section 5. Disclosure of certain wage increases made to
employees under Article 7 of the Illinois Pension Code.
(a) This Section applies only to a participating employee
under Article 7 of the Illinois Pension Code (IMRF) who began
participation before January 1, 2011 and who is not subject to
a collective bargaining agreement with respect to the
employment upon which the participation is based.
(b) The definitions in Article 7 of the Illinois Pension
Code also apply to this Section.
As used in this Section, "disclosable payment" means a
payment, whether in the form of an increase in the rate of
earnings or a lump-sum payment, that:
(1) would be made by a participating employer to a
participating employee after the employee has expressed to
the employer his or her intent to retire or withdraw from
service;
(2) would have the effect of increasing the employee's
reportable monthly earnings from that employer by more than
6% compared to the previous month; and
(3) would be made between 12 months and 90 days prior
to the employee's expected termination of service.
However, "disclosable payment" does not include a refund of
contributions or any payment required to be paid by State or
federal law.
(c) A disclosable payment shall not be made or payable
unless the governing body of that participating employer has
first discussed the specific payment to be made at a meeting
open to the public and posted and held in accordance with the
requirements of the Open Meetings Act. At the meeting, the
governing body shall, at a minimum, disclose (1) the identity
of the employee, (2) the purpose and amount of the increase or
payment, (3) the proposed retirement date, (4) the effect of
the payment upon the expected retirement annuity of the
employee, and (5) the effect of the payment upon the liability
of the employer to the Article 7 Fund.
(d) The determination of whether the disclosable payment is
permissible under this Section shall rest exclusively with the
employer.
(e) A participating employer may not make a disclosable
payment to an employee in a manner inconsistent with this
Section. This Section is a denial and limitation of home rule
powers and functions under subsection (h) of Section 6 of
Article VII of the Illinois Constitution.
Section 90. The Open Meetings Act is amended by changing
Section 2 as follows:
(5 ILCS 120/2) (from Ch. 102, par. 42)
Sec. 2. Open meetings.
(a) Openness required. All meetings of public bodies shall
be open to the public unless excepted in subsection (c) and
closed in accordance with Section 2a.
(b) Construction of exceptions. The exceptions contained
in subsection (c) are in derogation of the requirement that
public bodies meet in the open, and therefore, the exceptions
are to be strictly construed, extending only to subjects
clearly within their scope. The exceptions authorize but do not
require the holding of a closed meeting to discuss a subject
included within an enumerated exception.
(c) Exceptions. A public body may hold closed meetings to
consider the following subjects:
(1) The appointment, employment, compensation,
discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific
employees of the public body or legal counsel for the
public body, including hearing testimony on a complaint
lodged against an employee of the public body or against
legal counsel for the public body to determine its
validity. However, a meeting to consider an increase in
compensation to a specific employee of a public body that
is subject to the Local Government Wage Increase
Transparency Act may not be closed and shall be open to the
public and posted and held in accordance with this Act.
(2) Collective negotiating matters between the public
body and its employees or their representatives, or
deliberations concerning salary schedules for one or more
classes of employees.
(3) The selection of a person to fill a public office,
as defined in this Act, including a vacancy in a public
office, when the public body is given power to appoint
under law or ordinance, or the discipline, performance or
removal of the occupant of a public office, when the public
body is given power to remove the occupant under law or
ordinance.
(4) Evidence or testimony presented in open hearing, or
in closed hearing where specifically authorized by law, to
a quasi-adjudicative body, as defined in this Act, provided
that the body prepares and makes available for public
inspection a written decision setting forth its
determinative reasoning.
(5) The purchase or lease of real property for the use
of the public body, including meetings held for the purpose
of discussing whether a particular parcel should be
acquired.
(6) The setting of a price for sale or lease of
property owned by the public body.
(7) The sale or purchase of securities, investments, or
investment contracts. This exception shall not apply to the
investment of assets or income of funds deposited into the
Illinois Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund.
(8) Security procedures, school building safety and
security, and the use of personnel and equipment to respond
to an actual, a threatened, or a reasonably potential
danger to the safety of employees, students, staff, the
public, or public property.
(9) Student disciplinary cases.
(10) The placement of individual students in special
education programs and other matters relating to
individual students.
(11) Litigation, when an action against, affecting or
on behalf of the particular public body has been filed and
is pending before a court or administrative tribunal, or
when the public body finds that an action is probable or
imminent, in which case the basis for the finding shall be
recorded and entered into the minutes of the closed
meeting.
(12) The establishment of reserves or settlement of
claims as provided in the Local Governmental and
Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act, if otherwise the
disposition of a claim or potential claim might be
prejudiced, or the review or discussion of claims, loss or
risk management information, records, data, advice or
communications from or with respect to any insurer of the
public body or any intergovernmental risk management
association or self insurance pool of which the public body
is a member.
(13) Conciliation of complaints of discrimination in
the sale or rental of housing, when closed meetings are
authorized by the law or ordinance prescribing fair housing
practices and creating a commission or administrative
agency for their enforcement.
(14) Informant sources, the hiring or assignment of
undercover personnel or equipment, or ongoing, prior or
future criminal investigations, when discussed by a public
body with criminal investigatory responsibilities.
(15) Professional ethics or performance when
considered by an advisory body appointed to advise a
licensing or regulatory agency on matters germane to the
advisory body's field of competence.
(16) Self evaluation, practices and procedures or
professional ethics, when meeting with a representative of
a statewide association of which the public body is a
member.
(17) The recruitment, credentialing, discipline or
formal peer review of physicians or other health care
professionals for a hospital, or other institution
providing medical care, that is operated by the public
body.
(18) Deliberations for decisions of the Prisoner
Review Board.
(19) Review or discussion of applications received
under the Experimental Organ Transplantation Procedures
Act.
(20) The classification and discussion of matters
classified as confidential or continued confidential by
the State Government Suggestion Award Board.
(21) Discussion of minutes of meetings lawfully closed
under this Act, whether for purposes of approval by the
body of the minutes or semi-annual review of the minutes as
mandated by Section 2.06.
(22) Deliberations for decisions of the State
Emergency Medical Services Disciplinary Review Board.
(23) The operation by a municipality of a municipal
utility or the operation of a municipal power agency or
municipal natural gas agency when the discussion involves
(i) contracts relating to the purchase, sale, or delivery
of electricity or natural gas or (ii) the results or
conclusions of load forecast studies.
(24) Meetings of a residential health care facility
resident sexual assault and death review team or the
Executive Council under the Abuse Prevention Review Team
Act.
(25) Meetings of an independent team of experts under
Brian's Law.
(26) Meetings of a mortality review team appointed
under the Department of Juvenile Justice Mortality Review
Team Act.
(27) (Blank).
(28) Correspondence and records (i) that may not be
disclosed under Section 11-9 of the Public Aid Code or (ii)
that pertain to appeals under Section 11-8 of the Public
Aid Code.
(29) Meetings between internal or external auditors
and governmental audit committees, finance committees, and
their equivalents, when the discussion involves internal
control weaknesses, identification of potential fraud risk
areas, known or suspected frauds, and fraud interviews
conducted in accordance with generally accepted auditing
standards of the United States of America.
(30) Those meetings or portions of meetings of a
fatality review team or the Illinois Fatality Review Team
Advisory Council during which a review of the death of an
eligible adult in which abuse or neglect is suspected,
alleged, or substantiated is conducted pursuant to Section
15 of the Adult Protective Services Act.
(31) Meetings and deliberations for decisions of the
Concealed Carry Licensing Review Board under the Firearm
Concealed Carry Act.
(32) Meetings between the Regional Transportation
Authority Board and its Service Boards when the discussion
involves review by the Regional Transportation Authority
Board of employment contracts under Section 28d of the
Metropolitan Transit Authority Act and Sections 3A.18 and
3B.26 of the Regional Transportation Authority Act.
(33) Those meetings meeting or portions of meetings of
the advisory committee and peer review subcommittee
created under Section 320 of the Illinois Controlled
Substances Act during which specific controlled substance
prescriber, dispenser, or patient information is
discussed.
(d) Definitions. For purposes of this Section:
"Employee" means a person employed by a public body whose
relationship with the public body constitutes an
employer-employee relationship under the usual common law
rules, and who is not an independent contractor.
"Public office" means a position created by or under the
Constitution or laws of this State, the occupant of which is
charged with the exercise of some portion of the sovereign
power of this State. The term "public office" shall include
members of the public body, but it shall not include
organizational positions filled by members thereof, whether
established by law or by a public body itself, that exist to
assist the body in the conduct of its business.
"Quasi-adjudicative body" means an administrative body
charged by law or ordinance with the responsibility to conduct
hearings, receive evidence or testimony and make
determinations based thereon, but does not include local
electoral boards when such bodies are considering petition
challenges.
(e) Final action. No final action may be taken at a closed
meeting. Final action shall be preceded by a public recital of
the nature of the matter being considered and other information
that will inform the public of the business being conducted.
(Source: P.A. 98-49, eff. 7-1-13; 98-63, eff. 7-9-13; 98-756,
eff. 7-16-14; 98-1027, eff. 1-1-15; 98-1039, eff. 8-25-14;
99-78, eff. 7-20-15; 99-235, eff. 1-1-16; 99-480, eff. 9-9-15;
revised 10-14-15.)
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.
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