|
Legislation allows partial repayment of state
pension contributions
Send a link to a friend
[MAY 19, 2005]
SPRINGFIELD
-- The Illinois Senate approved legislation that allows state
employees to repay part of a refund of their employee contribution
to the State Employees Retirement System in lieu of repaying a full
refund, which is currently the only option allowed, reported state
Sen.
Larry Bomke, R-Springfield.
|
|
Bomke, primary Senate sponsor of
House Bill 1383, explained that the legislation is a response to
the request of several employees who use the State Employee
Retirement System. At this time, employees under the system may take
refunds of their employee contributions upon withdrawing when they
are terminated before retirement. If they return to state employment
and rejoin the system, they may repay their full refund, with
interest, and regain their prior work service credit toward pension
benefits.
"This bill would help former state
employees who took SERS refunds when they quit or were laid off from
a state job but who later rejoined the state. Currently, if they
want to regain credit for their prior work service, they must pay
the entire refund with interest," Bomke explained. "Depending on the
length of their prior service, the repayment can be quite large, and
it may be difficult for them to repay the full amount, which
sometimes results in these employees forfeiting their ability to
regain previous service credit."
[to top of second column in this article]
 |
 By allowing partial repayment, Bomke
says more employees will be able to repay the service credits toward
their retirement. Additionally, the bill will allow employees to
make partial repayments over time until the full refund is paid,
which should be helpful to some returning state employees.
House Bill 1383 has been approved by
the General Assembly and now proceeds to the governor for final
consideration.
[News release from Illinois
Senate Republicans]
 |
