Bill Text: IL HB0381 | 2021-2022 | 102nd General Assembly | Chaptered

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Bill Title: Reinserts the provisions of the introduced bill with the following changes. Provides that at any time during the 6 months following the effective date of the amendatory Act, an active member of a downstate firefighters' pension fund may apply for transfer to that fund of up to 8 years of his or her creditable service accumulated in a police pension fund that is administered by a unit of local government (rather than another unit of local government) if that active member was not subject to disciplinary action when he or she terminated employment with that police department. Makes conforming changes. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 12-7)

Status: (Passed) 2021-07-09 - Public Act . . . . . . . . . 102-0063 [HB0381 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2021-HB0381-Chaptered.html

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Public Act 102-0063
HB0381 Enrolled LRB102 05124 RPS 15145 b
AN ACT concerning public employee benefits.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Illinois Pension Code is amended by
changing Sections 3-110.12 and 4-108 as follows:
(40 ILCS 5/3-110.12)
Sec. 3-110.12. Transfer to Article 4 fund.
(a) At any time during the 6 months following the
effective date of this Section, an active member of an Article
4 firefighters' pension fund may apply for transfer to that
fund of up to 6 years of his or her creditable service
accumulated in the police pension fund under this Article that
is administered by the same unit of local government if that
active member was not subject to disciplinary action when he
or she terminated employment with that police department. The
creditable service shall be transferred upon payment by the
police pension fund to the Article 4 fund of an amount equal
to:
(1) the amounts accumulated to the credit of the
applicant on the books of the fund on the date of transfer
for the service to be transferred; and
(2) employer contributions in an amount equal to the
amount determined under item (1); and

(3) any interest paid by the applicant in order to
reinstate service.
Participation in the police pension fund with respect to
the transferred creditable service shall terminate on the date
of transfer.
(a-5) At any time during the 6 months following the
effective date of this amendatory Act of the 102nd General
Assembly, an active member of an Article 4 firefighters'
pension fund may apply for transfer to that fund of up to 8
years of his or her creditable service accumulated in a police
pension fund under this Article that is administered by a unit
of local government if that active member was not subject to
disciplinary action when he or she terminated employment with
that police department. The creditable service shall be
transferred upon payment by the police pension fund to the
Article 4 fund of an amount equal to:
(1) the amounts accumulated to the credit of the
applicant on the books of the fund on the date of transfer
for the service to be transferred; and
(2) employer contributions in an amount equal to the
amount determined under item (1); and
(3) any interest paid by the applicant in order to
reinstate service.
Participation in the police pension fund with respect to
the transferred creditable service shall terminate on the date
of transfer.

(b) At the time of applying for transfer of creditable
service under this Section, an active member of an Article 4
firefighters' pension fund may, for the purpose of that
transfer, reinstate creditable service that was terminated by
receipt of a refund, by payment to the police pension fund of
the amount of the refund with interest thereon at the rate of
6% per year, compounded annually, from the date of the refund
to the date of payment.
(Source: P.A. 100-544, eff. 11-8-17.)
(40 ILCS 5/4-108) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 4-108)
Sec. 4-108. Creditable service.
(a) Creditable service is the time served as a firefighter
of a municipality. In computing creditable service, furloughs
and leaves of absence without pay exceeding 30 days in any one
year shall not be counted, but leaves of absence for illness or
accident regardless of length, and periods of disability for
which a firefighter received no disability pension payments
under this Article, shall be counted.
(b) Furloughs and leaves of absence of 30 days or less in
any one year may be counted as creditable service, if the
firefighter makes the contribution to the fund that would have
been required had he or she not been on furlough or leave of
absence. To qualify for this creditable service, the
firefighter must pay the required contributions to the fund
not more than 90 days subsequent to the termination of the

furlough or leave of absence, to the extent that the
municipality has not made such contribution on his or her
behalf.
(c) Creditable service includes:
(1) Service in the military, naval or air forces of
the United States entered upon when the person was an
active firefighter, provided that, upon applying for a
permanent pension, and in accordance with the rules of the
board the firefighter pays into the fund the amount that
would have been contributed had he or she been a regular
contributor during such period of service, if and to the
extent that the municipality which the firefighter served
made no such contributions in his or her behalf. The total
amount of such creditable service shall not exceed 5
years, except that any firefighter who on July 1, 1973 had
more than 5 years of such creditable service shall receive
the total amount thereof as of that date.
(1.5) Up to 24 months of service in the military,
naval, or air forces of the United States that was served
prior to employment by a municipality or fire protection
district as a firefighter. To receive the credit for the
military service prior to the employment as a firefighter,
the firefighter must apply in writing to the fund and must
make contributions to the fund equal to (i) the employee
contributions that would have been required had the
service been rendered as a member, plus (ii) an amount

determined by the fund to be equal to the employer's
normal cost of the benefits accrued for that military
service, plus (iii) interest at the actuarially assumed
rate provided by the Department of Financial and
Professional Regulation, compounded annually from the
first date of membership in the fund to the date of payment
on items (i) and (ii). The changes to this paragraph (1.5)
by this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly apply
only to participating employees in service on or after its
effective date.
(2) Service prior to July 1, 1976 by a firefighter
initially excluded from participation by reason of age who
elected to participate and paid the required contributions
for such service.
(3) Up to 8 years of service by a firefighter as an
officer in a statewide firefighters' association when he
is on a leave of absence from a municipality's payroll,
provided that (i) the firefighter has at least 10 years of
creditable service as an active firefighter, (ii) the
firefighter contributes to the fund the amount that he
would have contributed had he remained an active member of
the fund, (iii) the employee or statewide firefighter
association contributes to the fund an amount equal to the
employer's required contribution as determined by the
board, and (iv) for all leaves of absence under this
subdivision (3), including those beginning before the

effective date of this amendatory Act of the 97th General
Assembly, the firefighter continues to remain in sworn
status, subject to the professional standards of the
public employer or those terms established in statute.
(4) Time spent as an on-call fireman for a
municipality, calculated at the rate of one year of
creditable service for each 5 years of time spent as an
on-call fireman, provided that (i) the firefighter has at
least 18 years of creditable service as an active
firefighter, (ii) the firefighter spent at least 14 years
as an on-call firefighter for the municipality, (iii) the
firefighter applies for such creditable service within 30
days after the effective date of this amendatory Act of
1989, (iv) the firefighter contributes to the Fund an
amount representing employee contributions for the number
of years of creditable service granted under this
subdivision (4), based on the salary and contribution rate
in effect for the firefighter at the date of entry into the
Fund, to be determined by the board, and (v) not more than
3 years of creditable service may be granted under this
subdivision (4).
Except as provided in Section 4-108.5, creditable
service shall not include time spent as a volunteer
firefighter, whether or not any compensation was received
therefor. The change made in this Section by Public Act
83-0463 is intended to be a restatement and clarification

of existing law, and does not imply that creditable
service was previously allowed under this Article for time
spent as a volunteer firefighter.
(5) Time served between July 1, 1976 and July 1, 1988
in the position of protective inspection officer or
administrative assistant for fire services, for a
municipality with a population under 10,000 that is
located in a county with a population over 3,000,000 and
that maintains a firefighters' pension fund under this
Article, if the position included firefighting duties,
notwithstanding that the person may not have held an
appointment as a firefighter, provided that application is
made to the pension fund within 30 days after the
effective date of this amendatory Act of 1991, and the
corresponding contributions are paid for the number of
years of service granted, based upon the salary and
contribution rate in effect for the firefighter at the
date of entry into the pension fund, as determined by the
Board.
(6) Service before becoming a participant by a
firefighter initially excluded from participation by
reason of age who becomes a participant under the
amendment to Section 4-107 made by this amendatory Act of
1993 and pays the required contributions for such service.
(7) Up to 3 years of time during which the firefighter
receives a disability pension under Section 4-110,

4-110.1, or 4-111, provided that (i) the firefighter
returns to active service after the disability for a
period at least equal to the period for which credit is to
be established and (ii) the firefighter makes
contributions to the fund based on the rates specified in
Section 4-118.1 and the salary upon which the disability
pension is based. These contributions may be paid at any
time prior to the commencement of a retirement pension.
The firefighter may, but need not, elect to have the
contributions deducted from the disability pension or to
pay them in installments on a schedule approved by the
board. If not deducted from the disability pension, the
contributions shall include interest at the rate of 6% per
year, compounded annually, from the date for which service
credit is being established to the date of payment. If
contributions are paid under this subdivision (c)(7) in
excess of those needed to establish the credit, the excess
shall be refunded. This subdivision (c)(7) applies to
persons receiving a disability pension under Section
4-110, 4-110.1, or 4-111 on the effective date of this
amendatory Act of the 91st General Assembly, as well as
persons who begin to receive such a disability pension
after that date.
(8) Up to 6 years of service as a police officer and
participant in an Article 3 police pension fund
administered by the unit of local government that employs

the firefighter under this Article, provided that the
service has been transferred to, and the required payment
received by, the Article 4 fund in accordance with
subsection (a) of Section 3-110.12 of this Code.
(9) Up to 8 years of service as a police officer and
participant in an Article 3 police pension fund
administered by a unit of local government, provided that
the service has been transferred to, and the required
payment received by, the Article 4 fund in accordance with
subsection (a-5) of Section 3-110.12 of this Code.
(Source: P.A. 100-544, eff. 11-8-17.)
Section 90. The State Mandates Act is amended by adding
Section 8.45 as follows:
(30 ILCS 805/8.45 new)
Sec. 8.45. Exempt mandate. Notwithstanding Sections 6 and
8 of this Act, no reimbursement by the State is required for
the implementation of any mandate created by this amendatory
Act of the 102nd General Assembly.
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.