Legislation aimed at reforming public safety pension funds

SPRINGFIELD - A working group of public officials, including mayors from across Illinois, is pursuing legislation to reform and consolidate the state's more than 650 public safety pension funds.

Consolidating funds would ensure taxpayer and employee contributions go directly to pensions instead of duplicative overhead or administrative expenses, according to a news release Wednesday, Feb. 6, from the Illinois Municipal League, a lobbying group representing units of local government.

The IML said the reforms are necessary because smaller local pension funds see lower returns on investments than larger consolidated funds. As a result, many communities across Illinois are forced to choose between funding basic municipal services or making pension contributions.

Democratic Sen. Steven Landek, who serves as the mayor of Bridgeview, and Republican Rep. Ryan Spain, who previously served as a member of the Peoria City Council, introduced the companion bills in the Senate (Senate Bills 1106 through 1112) and House (House Bills 1566 through 1572), respectively.

"The current public safety pension system is unaffordable for local taxpayers and unsustainable for future pension benefit recipients. We can and must do better, and that starts with consolidating municipal public safety pension funds," said Brad Cole, IML executive director. "None of our proposals call for benefit reductions. These consolidation efforts are intended to stabilize pension funds and relax the financial burden on taxpayers."

Members of the working group include mayors from Peoria, Palos Hills, Naperville, Barrington and Macomb, as well as former state Sen. Pamela Althoff and former state Rep. Elaine Nekritz among others.