Divide (and Conquer) Current TRS Members from Retirees and Other Public Employees

from the IRTA

“Today the Illinois Senate voted on SB35 and SB1. SB35 which diminished retirees' and current employees' pension benefits was defeated 23-30-3. SB1 was amended to remove retired educators from the bill. SB1 passed 30-22-2. SB1 now goes to the House for consideration. Retired educators live to fight another day!”

NO!  RETIRED TEACHERS MUST STAND TOGETHER WITH THE CURRENT TEACHERS IF THIS BILL IS SIGNED INTO LAW!

from the IEA

Senate passes Cullerton plan dealing with TRS members only

Sen. President John Cullerton put a bill in front of the Senate today — twice — that has a direct effect on active Tier 1 TRS employees who have not yet submitted their letters of retirement.

IEA is OPPOSED to the bill.

The bill, known as SB1, forces current Tier 1 employees to choose to freeze their pensionable salaries as they are today in exchange for keeping a 3 percent compounded COLA in retirement and access to health care [?]. Or, active Tier 1 employees can continue to count salary increases toward their pensions but reduce their COLA in retirement to half of the consumer price index or 3 percent simple COLAs, whichever is less, and have access to healthcare.

Other key components to this bill are that it does not include any current TRS retirees or anyone who has already declared through irrevocable letters of retirement that they are leaving the profession.

In addition, the bill includes other key components of the We Are One Illinois bill, SB2404, including the establishment of a pension stabilization fund, and the right for TRS members to sue the state if the state doesn’t make its future payments.

There is no 2 percent increase in member contribution in SB 1, and there also is no shifting of the cost of pensions from the state to local school districts.

This bill has only been passed by the Senate. It still would have to be heard and passed by the House in order to be considered by the governor for passage. The bill was heard twice — the first time it failed by one vote 29 Yes, 22 No, 4 Present. Cullerton asked that it be put on postponed consideration and it was heard again about 15 minutes later and it passed 30 Yes, 22 No, 2 Present.

For various constitutional analyses, please access the posts in the “Pension Analyses” tab of this blog.

March 20^th IEA Post (Updated and Corrected)

March 21, 2013 by IEA Government Relations

…The bill, known as SB1, forces current Tier 1 employees to choose to freeze their pensionable salaries (the salary on which their pension would be based) where the salaries are today and to forgo access to any state provided health insurance, to retain a 3 percent compounded COLA in retirement.

Or, active Tier 1 employees can continue to count salary increases toward their pensions but they would see their COLA reduced in retirement to half of the consumer price index or 3 percent simple COLAs, whichever is less, to retain access to a (as yet undefined) healthcare plan. The legislation even suggests that this access could be to a plan in which the participating retiree could be required to pay for the entire cost of their health insurance (unlike TRIP as we know it today)…

§  It does not include any current TRS retirees or anyone who has already declared through irrevocable letters of retirement that they are leaving the profession.

§  It includes other key components of the We Are One Illinois bill, SB2404, including the establishment of a pension stabilization fund, and the right for TRS members to sue the state if the state doesn’t make its future payments.

§  There is no 2 percent increase in member contribution in SB 1.

§  There also is no shifting of the cost of pensions from the state to local school districts…

Senate Bill No. 1

POSTPONED CONSIDERATION

THIRD READING
Mar 20, 2013

30 YEAS, 22 NAYS, 2 PRESENT

N Althoff NV Forby NV Lightford N Radogno
N Barickman N Frerichs Y Link Y Raoul

Y Bertino-Tarrant Y Haine N Luechtefeld N Rezin

Y Biss Y Harmon N Manar N Righter

NV Bivins Y Harris Y Martinez N Rose

N Brady Y Hastings N McCann NV Sandoval

Y Bush N Holmes N McCarter Y Silverstein

NV Clayborne Y Hunter N McConnaughay Y Stadelman

Y Collins Y Hutchinson Y McGuire P Steans

N Connelly Y Jacobs Y Morrison N Sullivan

Y Cullerton, T. Y Jones, E. Y Mulroe N Syverson

Y Cunningham Y Koehler Y Muñoz Y Trotter

P Delgado Y Kotowski N Murphy Y Van Pelt

N Dillard N LaHood Y Noland Y Mr. President

N Duffy Y Landek N Oberweis

When David Koehler changed his vote to "yes," the bill passed.