A costly pension bill is advancing in the House during the second week of Veto Session.
SB 1937 (Senator Martwick, D-Chicago/Representative Kifowit, D-Oswego) would enhance Tier 2 pension benefits for Illinois public employees by increasing the salary cap used to calculate pensions, boosting cost-of-living adjustments, and allowing eligible employees to retire sooner. It would also lengthen the pension funding schedule by shifting the requirement for police (Article 3) and firefighter (Article 4) pension funds to reach 90% funding from 2040 to 2055. With the exception of the Chicago Transit Authority pension system, all public employee pension plans (including IMRF) in the state would be affected by SB 1937.
The bill was approved by the House Executive Committee on October 29. ISACo will continue to monitor the bill and communicate concerns about the cost.