SPRINGFIELD (Sept. 15, 2017) – Gov. Bruce Rauner took action today on the following bills:
Bill No.: HB 0173
An Act Concerning Public Aid
Action: Signed
Effective: June 1, 2018
Bill No.: HB 0311
An Act Concerning Regulation
Action: Signed
Effective: Immediately
Bill No.: HB 0688
An Act Concerning Public Employee Benefits
Action: Vetoed
Note: Veto Message Below
Bill No.: HB 0760
An Act Concerning Education
Action: Signed
Effective: June 1, 2018
Bill No.: HB 2810
An Act Concerning Animals
Action: Signed
Effective: June 1, 2018
Bill No.: HB 2993
An Act Concerning Education
Action: Signed
Effective: June 1, 2018
Bill No.: HB 3060
An Act Concerning Health
Action: Signed
Effective: January 1, 2018
Bill No.: HB 3791
An Act Concerning Business
Action: Signed
Effective: June 1, 2018
Bill No.: HB 4011
An Act Concerning Government
Action: Signed
Effective: Immediately
Bill No.: SB 0776
An Act Concerning Civil Law
Action: Signed
Effective: Immediately
Bill No.: SB 1775
An Act Concerning Local Government
Action: Signed
Effective: Immediately
Veto Message for HB 0688
September 15, 2017
To the Honorable Members of
The Illinois House of Representatives,
100th General Assembly:
Today, I veto House Bill 688 from the 100th General Assembly, which creates a mechanism for members of police and firefighter pension funds to transfer service credits between funds.
Many of Illinois’ downstate fire and police funds are dangerously underfunded, and some are approaching insolvency. A rising number of retirees, combined with low funding ratios, continues to put pressure on the financial health of local governments. In its current form, this bill will introduce further financial risks. This legislation allows service credits to migrate among the respective funds, which may introduce uncertainty with respect to cashflow management. This bill may also worsen existing unfunded liabilities without comprehensive and foolproof safeguards to assure an appropriate calculation of the true cost for transferring credits. In short, this bill introduces more financial uncertainty to the long-term financial health of these funds and is inappropriate to enact into law.
Illinois is in the midst of a pension crisis that impacts the state as a whole as well as individual local governments. Dramatically underfunded pensions risk the long-term solvency of local governments and put state finances under severe stress, and the underfunding of downstate police and fire pension funds warrants further investigation. In the meantime, the General Assembly should enact pension reforms that mitigate uncertainty and reduce unfunded liabilities. Unfortunately, House Bill 688 increases uncertainty and could contribute to larger unfunded liabilities in local pension funds.
Therefore, pursuant to Section 9(b) of Article IV of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, I hereby return House Bill 688, entitled “AN ACT concerning employee benefits”, with the foregoing objections, vetoed in its entirety.
Sincerely,
Bruce Rauner
GOVERNOR
