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1		SENATE RESOLUTION
2		WHEREAS, A proposed educational pension cost shift, which
3		would shift the cost burden from the State of Illinois to local
4		school districts, community colleges, and institutions of
5		higher education, is under discussion; this proposal would
6		require all employers of members in the Teachers' Retirement
7		System and the State Universities Retirement System to pay the
8		normal cost of pension benefits earned; and
9		WHEREAS, If this proposal were to become policy, for the
10		Teachers' Retirement System and the State Universities
11		Retirement System, it would potentially move $10.187 billion in
12		estimated normal costs of pension benefits earned from the
13		State to local school districts, community colleges, and
14		institutions of higher learning over a 10-year period;
15		actuarial changes recently made by these 2 systems will further
16		increase these numbers; and
17		WHEREAS, This plan would move these spending commitments
18		from one taxing body, the State, to a group of taxing bodies,
19		the school districts and community colleges, while additional
20		pension costs would be shifted to State universities; and
21		WHEREAS, A pension cost shift would lead to a massive
22		increase in local funding requirements on school districts; the

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1		cost shift would exacerbate the problem of adequately funding
2		our local schools by taking even more when districts, teachers,
3		and local voters are fighting to simply keep educational
4		opportunities open to our students; in addition, a pension cost
5		shift would likely lead to massive property tax hikes or to
6		classroom cuts that will harm our students; and
7		WHEREAS, According to the Illinois State Board of
8		Education, 67% of school districts in the State are operating
9		in the red; and
10		WHEREAS, School districts already bear a large share of the
11		Teachers' Retirement System pension burden by paying a
12		statutory share of the System's total contribution costs,
13		constituting 0.58% of pensionable teacher payroll; districts
14		also contribute towards any locally-negotiated early
15		retirement options and for the pension costs of certain
16		increases in compensation, totaling $92.5 million in Fiscal
17		Year 2012; and
18		WHEREAS, Representatives from Northern Illinois University
19		publicly stated that if the cost shift were to be covered by
20		increasing tuition on parents and students, each percentage of
21		payroll cost shifted to the university would translate into a
22		2% tuition increase; this proposed cost shift would also
23		increase the liability of State-funded universities and all

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1		community colleges, thus making higher education even more
2		unaffordable for students and their parents; and
3		WHEREAS, This plan would harm the interests of all
4		taxpayers, especially in downstate and suburban areas and would
5		sharply increase inequities created by the current school aid
6		formula between Chicago and the rest of the State; because of
7		the impact on institutions of higher education, Chicago
8		taxpayers, parents, and students would also be affected;
9		therefore, be it
10		RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL
11		ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we state our belief
12		that an educational pension cost shift is financially wrong and
13		would only serve to shift pension burdens from the State to the
14		status of an unfunded mandate.