Bill Text: IL HB1248 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Firefighters' Pension Investment Fund Article of the Illinois Pension Code. Provides that the candidate receiving the highest number of votes who is from a fire protection district shall be elected if the candidate or candidates who are mayors, presidents, chief executive officers, chief financial officers, or other officers, executives, or department heads of municipalities or fire protection districts receiving the highest number of votes would result in there being no trustee who is from a fire protection district. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2023-03-27 - Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HB1248 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-HB1248-Introduced.html

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103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 HB1248 Introduced , by Rep. Steven Reick SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
40 ILCS 5/22C-116
Amends the Firefighters' Pension Investment Fund Article of the Illinois Pension Code. Provides that the candidate receiving the highest number of votes who is from a fire protection district shall be elected if the candidate or candidates who are mayors, presidents, chief executive officers, chief financial officers, or other officers, executives, or department heads of municipalities or fire protection districts receiving the highest number of votes would result in there being no trustee who is from a fire protection district. Effective immediately.
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A BILL FOR
HB1248 LRB103 04929 RPS 49939 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 Section 22C-116 as follows:
(40 ILCS 5/22C-116)
Sec. 22C-116. Conduct and administration of elections;
terms of office.
(a) For the election of the permanent trustees, the
transition board shall administer the initial elections and
the permanent board shall administer all subsequent elections.
Each board shall develop and implement such procedures as it
determines to be appropriate for the conduct of such
elections. For the purposes of obtaining information necessary
to conduct elections under this Section, participating pension
funds shall cooperate with the Fund.
(b) All nominations for election shall be by petition.
Each petition for a trustee shall be executed as follows:
(1) for trustees to be elected by the mayors and
presidents of municipalities or fire protection districts
that have participating pension funds, by at least 20 such
mayors and presidents; except that this item (1) shall
apply only with respect to participating pension funds;

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(2) for trustees to be elected by participants, by at
least 400 participants; and
(3) for trustees to be elected by beneficiaries, by at
least 100 beneficiaries.
(c) A separate ballot shall be used for each class of
trustee. The board shall prepare and send ballots and ballot
envelopes to the participants and beneficiaries eligible to
vote in accordance with rules adopted by the board. The
ballots shall contain the names of all candidates in
alphabetical order. The ballot envelope shall have on the
outside a form of certificate stating that the person voting
the ballot is a participant or beneficiary entitled to vote.
Participants and beneficiaries, upon receipt of the
ballot, shall vote the ballot and place it in the ballot
envelope, seal the envelope, execute the certificate thereon,
and return the ballot to the Fund.
The board shall set a final date for ballot return, and
ballots received prior to that date in a ballot envelope with a
properly executed certificate and properly voted shall be
valid ballots.
The board shall set a day for counting the ballots and name
judges and clerks of election to conduct the count of ballots
and shall make any rules necessary for the conduct of the
count.
The candidate or candidates receiving the highest number
of votes for each class of trustee shall be elected; except

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that if the candidate or candidates under item (1) of
subsection (b) of Section 22C-115 receiving the highest number
of votes would result in there being no trustee who is from a
fire protection district, then the candidate receiving the
highest number of votes who is from a fire protection district
shall be elected. In the case of a tie vote, the winner shall
be determined in accordance with procedures developed by the
Department of Insurance.
In lieu of conducting elections via mail balloting as
described in this Section, the board may instead adopt rules
to provide for elections to be carried out solely via Internet
balloting or phone balloting. Nothing in this Section
prohibits the Fund from contracting with a third party to
administer the election in accordance with this Section.
(d) At any election, voting shall be as follows:
(1) Each person authorized to vote for an elected
trustee may cast one vote for each related position for
which such person is entitled to vote and may cast such
vote for any candidate or candidates on the ballot for
such trustee position.
(2) If only one candidate for each position is
properly nominated in petitions received, that candidate
shall be deemed the winner and no election under this
Section shall be required.
(3) The results shall be entered in the minutes of the
first meeting of the board following the tally of votes.

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(e) The initial election for permanent trustees shall be
held and the permanent board shall be seated no later than 12
months after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the
101st General Assembly. Each subsequent election shall be held
no later than 30 days prior to the end of the term of the
incumbent trustees.
(f) The elected trustees shall each serve for terms of 4
years commencing on the first business day of the first month
after election; except that the terms of office of the
initially elected trustees shall be as follows:
(1) One trustee elected pursuant to item (1) of
subsection (b) of Section 22C-115 shall serve for a term
of 2 years and 2 trustees elected pursuant to item (1) of
subsection (b) of Section 22C-115 shall serve for a term
of 4 years;
(2) One trustee elected pursuant to item (2) of
subsection (b) of Section 22C-115 shall serve for a term
of 2 years and 2 trustees elected pursuant to item (2) of
subsection (b) of Section 22C-115 shall serve for a term
of 4 years; and
(3) The trustee elected pursuant to item (3) of
subsection (b) of Section 22C-115 shall serve for a term
of 2 years.
(g) The trustees appointed pursuant to items (4) and (5)
of subsection (b) of Section 22C-115 shall each serve for a
term of 4 years commencing on the first business day of the

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first month after the election of the elected trustees.
(h) A member of the board who was elected pursuant to item
(1) of subsection (b) of Section 22C-115 who ceases to serve as
a mayor, president, chief executive officer, chief financial
officer, or other officer, executive, or department head of a
municipality or fire protection district that has a
participating pension fund shall not be eligible to serve as a
member of the board and his or her position shall be deemed
vacant. A member of the board who was elected by the
participants of participating pension funds who ceases to be a
participant may serve the remainder of his or her elected
term.
For a vacancy of an elected trustee occurring with an
unexpired term of 6 months or more, an election shall be
conducted for the vacancy in accordance with Section 22C-115
and this Section.
For a vacancy of an elected trustee occurring with an
unexpired term of less than 6 months, the vacancy shall be
filled by appointment by the board for the unexpired term as
follows: a vacancy of a member elected pursuant to item (1) of
subsection (b) of Section 22C-115 shall be filled by a mayor,
president, chief executive officer, chief financial officer,
or other officer, executive, or department head of a
municipality or fire protection district that has a
participating pension fund; a vacancy of a member elected
pursuant to item (2) of subsection (b) of Section 22C-115

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shall be filled by a participant of a participating pension
fund; and a vacancy of a member elected under item (3) of
subsection (b) of Section 22C-115 shall be filled by a
beneficiary of a participating pension fund.
Vacancies among the appointed trustees shall be filled for
unexpired terms by appointment in like manner as for the
original appointments.
(Source: P.A. 101-610, eff. 1-1-20.)
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.