IFT Legislative Highlights for the Week of April 26--Part 1 of 2

The Illinois legislature reconvenes this week for the remaining 19 scheduled days of the 103rd General Assembly spring legislative session. Last Friday was the House third reading deadline.

Legislators will arrive back in Springfield on Tuesday, April 30, to begin cross-chamber committee work. The remaining 4 weeks will be focused on cross chamber legislative action and on the budget as the appropriations committees continue to hear testimony on fiscal year 2025 budget requests from state agencies.

IFT Initiatives

All three of IFT’s legislative initiatives are poised for action in the opposite chamber. They include:

Higher Education Winter Weather Emergencies

The Senate approved SB 331 unanimously (Turner, D- Springfield). The legislation requires that employees of a university or community college be paid their regular rate of pay if a campus has been closed due to a declaration of a winter weather emergency. SB 331 is posted to be heard in the House Higher Education committee on May 1.

Limits on Student Testing in Grades K-6

Rep. Sue Scherer (D-Decatur), a former educator, sent HB 4955 to the Senate, which restricts the State Board of Education from funding any standardized assessment or testing any students in grades K-6 beyond the requirements of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act. The bill also encourages ISBE to seek federal testing waivers.

CTE Teacher Tenure

SB 463 (Hirschauer, D-West Chicago) clarifies that educators holding career and technical educator endorsements and provisional career and technical educator endorsements are eligible to receive tenure under a bill passed last spring, PA 103-500. The bill also includes language to extend the work of the Performance Evaluation Advisory Committee (PEAC) until December 31, 2024, and continues the work of the PEAC training committee going forward. SB 463 is posted to be heard in the House Elementary and Secondary Administration, Licensing and Charter Schools Committee on Wednesday May 1.

Tier 2 Pension Update

The House Personnel and Pensions Committee heard subject matter regarding the governor’s pension plan presented by the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget.

The following three measures were proposed by the Governor in his February budget address and discussed by the Committee:

• Increase statutory funding from 90% by 2045 to 100% by 2048. The Governor wants to add three years of contributions to bring Illinois’ pension funding to 100%.

• The state will funnel current legacy payments to the pension fund once legacy debts are paid off, which will begin in 2030 and reduce future pension payments. By dedicating future savings to increase pension contributions from FY30 through FY40, the state aims to save taxpayers an estimated $5.1 billion by FY45.

• Ensure Tier 2 pensionable earnings comply with federal law, specifically the Safe Harbor provision, but the proposal does not include broad-based Tier 2 pension reform.

Two weeks ago, educators, PSRPS, and public employees united for a week of action to tell lawmakers that public employees deserve to retire with dignity and financial security! IFT members were among the 63,000 public workers who called or e-mailed their legislators to urge them to Fix Tier 2. Our fight is not over, so please watch your inbox and ift-aft.org for updates and future calls for action.