A northern Illinois Republican said he’s pleased lawmakers were able to come together on a new pension bill.
The measure approved by the General Assembly would consolidate police and firefighter pensions across the state into two larger funds. Illinois State Representative Jeff Keicher said this reform has been supported both by Democratic Governor J.B. Pritzker and the state Republican caucus.
“I first learned about it from Representative Batinick from Plainfield," Keicher said, "and he was very passionate about the issue. So I’m glad that that would-seem-to-be common sense solution has come to pass.”
The Sycamore Republican said he believes consolidation can provide a greater return on investment without changing what cities and counties have to pay in.
“Now we’re not taking on obligations of lesser funded local pensions," he said. "We’re actually aggregating the dollars but we’re keeping the obligations individually to those municipalities.”
Keicher said if and when the governor signs the bill, the various assets would come together over a 30-month period.