Bill Text: IL HR1372 | 2009-2010 | 96th General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Directs the Illinois State Board of Investment to conduct an independent asset allocation study of College Illinois! investments to determine the overall level of risk associated with the program's investment mix, and directs the Auditor General to conduct a special audit of College Illinois! operations to document growth in program administrative costs and determine the efficacy of program administration on behalf of participants.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-11-16 - Referred to Rules Committee [HR1372 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2009-HR1372-Introduced.html
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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, The College Illinois! prepaid tuition program has | ||||||
| 3 | served Illinois families successfully for more than a decade, | ||||||
| 4 | encouraging parents and grandparents to pay college tuition in | ||||||
| 5 | advance through the purchase of State-sponsored prepaid | ||||||
| 6 | tuition contracts; and
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| 7 | WHEREAS, The most recent (June 2009) financial soundness | ||||||
| 8 | report for the College Illinois! program documents a record | ||||||
| 9 | funding deficit of more than $515 million, corresponding to a | ||||||
| 10 | funded ratio of only 67.6%; and
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| 11 | WHEREAS, The College Illinois! program's financial deficit | ||||||
| 12 | has nearly doubled, increasing by more than $242 million from | ||||||
| 13 | June 2008 to June 2009; and
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| 14 | WHEREAS, During the past year the Illinois Student | ||||||
| 15 | Assistance Commission, administrator for the program, has | ||||||
| 16 | authorized placement of nearly 20% of program participants' | ||||||
| 17 | financial contributions into inherently risky alternative | ||||||
| 18 | investments, including $135 million in three separate hedge | ||||||
| 19 | funds; and
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| 20 | WHEREAS, Hedge funds and private equity investments often | ||||||
| 21 | do not provide the level of transparency appropriate for public | ||||||
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| 1 | institutional investments of this kind; and
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| 2 | WHEREAS, This level of exposure to alternative investments | ||||||
| 3 | is at best questionable, given the relatively small size of the | ||||||
| 4 | College Illinois! portfolio and could expose the program to | ||||||
| 5 | unnecessary financial risk; therefore, be it
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| 6 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
| 7 | NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that, | ||||||
| 8 | in response to reports that the Illinois Student Assistance | ||||||
| 9 | Commission lost $10.7 million of its $12.7 million investment | ||||||
| 10 | in ShoreBank, a privately held company that has been declared | ||||||
| 11 | to be in financial trouble by federal regulators, we direct the | ||||||
| 12 | Illinois State Board of Investment to conduct an independent | ||||||
| 13 | asset allocation study of College Illinois! investments to | ||||||
| 14 | determine the overall level of risk associated with the | ||||||
| 15 | program's investment mix and provide the results of that study | ||||||
| 16 | to the General Assembly and the Governor no later than January | ||||||
| 17 | 15, 2011; and be it further
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| 18 | RESOLVED, That we direct the Auditor General to conduct a | ||||||
| 19 | special audit of College Illinois! operations to document | ||||||
| 20 | growth in program administrative costs and determine the | ||||||
| 21 | efficacy of program administration on behalf of participants | ||||||
| 22 | and provide the results of this special audit to the General | ||||||
| 23 | Assembly and the Governor no later than January 15, 2011; and | ||||||
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| 1 | be it further
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| 2 | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | ||||||
| 3 | delivered to the Illinois State Board of Investment and the | ||||||
| 4 | Auditor General.
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