The State Universities Annuitants Association (SUAA) provides the framework for a unified message dedicated to preserving and protecting a strong public pension system, healthcare benefits, and the general well-being of its membership. SUAA advocates on behalf of all faculty and staff of public universities and community colleges - both retired and current employees - their spouses and survivors, those who are participants and beneficiaries of the State Universities Retirement System.

May 10, 2012

Mini Briefing

We have received so many telephone calls that it has been almost impossible to return them. If after reading this Mini Briefing you still have questions (or have not received a return call), please either email or call again.

We will try to work through your inquires.Remember that we cannot react to substance that we cannot see. Right now all we have is rumors or conversation. Therefore, we are waiting for something in writing from CMS in order for us to respond. We are not sure how long it will take before information is available. We will provide the information and the action as soon as we can.

Thank you for being patient in these uncertain times.

Click here to read the Mini Briefing.

May 10, 2012

Senate Passes SB1313 - Now Heads to Governor Pat Quinn

SB1313 passed the full Senate this afternoon by a vote of 31 "Yeas" to 20 "Nays" to 1 "Present". 7 members did not vote.

This was a very close margin. Grassroots efforts were heard by the entire Senate.

We will have a more detailed email out tomorrow on our legislative efforts regarding this issue, and we'd like to thank Senator Mike Frerichs and all the members of the Illinois Senate who voted no on this issue.

Click to see the Senate roll call..

May 8, 2012

Call for Executive Committee Nominations for June 2012

Hi Colleagues,

I have been appointed to chair a nominating committee to recommend at the June 19 & 20 SUAA annual meeting three at-large members for the SUAA executive committee. If you would like our committee to consider a possible SUAA member for the executive committee, please email me at runbike63@yahoo.com by May 28 with your recommendation(s) for possible future executive committee members. At-large members serve a two-year term. You need to contact the person whom you are nominating, and the person must agree with your nomination.

Click to read the entire Call for Executive Committee Nominations Letter from John Peterson, JJCAA.

May 8, 2012

SUAA Annual Meeting

Mark your calendars for June 19 and 20 to attend the SUAA Annual Meeting in Springfield.

Hotel reservations need to be made no later than May 29th! Rate is $95.99 for a single or double.

President Abraham Lincoln Hotel & Conference Center
701 East Adams Springfield, Illinois 62701
866-788-1860.

Check back for more information coming soon.

May 8, 2012

SUAA Mini Briefing

State Health Insurance SB1313 HAM 6, 7, 8 (no 9 as yet) is the number one concern topping the charts this week; far over all other issues. As most of you know, HAM 006 was filed on April 26th. This amendment reforms the State Retiree Health Insurance. This bill does not make any changes to CIP or TRIP. The language is ambiguous except that it provides for Central Management Services (CMS) to determine the State's contribution to the program; deletes the formula that determines annuitant premiums; and, deletes formula (5% premium reimbursement per year of service up to a maximum of 100%) but provides no clear understanding of how the premium reimbursement will be determined.

Click to read the entire Mini Briefing.

May 3, 2012

Legislative Bills SUAA is Following

Click to read the entire Report.

April 26, 2012

HJRCA49 Passes Senate Executive Committee

It wasn't going to rear its head this session or so it was said, but here it is:

SB 1313 ham 006

was filed this morning with the Clerk of the House by Rep. Frank Mautino. It is now assigned to the House Executive Committee. The time of the hearing has not been set as yet. The amendment reforms State retiree health insurance. (Note: CIP nor TRIP is included - most likely will be in another reform.)

Provides that CMS (Central Management Services) shall determine the State's contribution to the program.

Deletes the formula that determines annuitant premiums.

CMS determination will influence the cost of the premiums; unclear how premiums will be determined.

Deleting formula (5% premium reimbursement per year of service up to a maximum of 100%) provides no clear understanding of how the premium reimbursement will be determined.

April 25, 2012

HJRCA49 Passes Senate Executive Committee

Once again a big thank you to those of you who contacted the Senate Executive Committee; and those of you who contacted your senators. The Amendment passed out of the Senate Executive Committee with a vote of 14-00-00. Senator Minority Spokesperson Dale Righter was absent. It will reach the Senate floor for the 2nd reading on Thursday; however, it cannot be passed until Tuesday, May 2nd. This Amendment is designed to move. We believe there will be questions asked on the floor of the Senate but those questions will likely not have any effect on the outcome. Testimony was provided by AFSCME and the Fraternal Order of Police. No testimony was taken from IEA or SUAA which was unfortunate because the content was different. It seems that moving quickly through the hearing was of most importance possibly due to the number of people in the room. (Most people were not in attendance because of the Amendment.) The language in the Amendment is ambiguous. Therefore it remains to be seen what the outcome will mean and how it will affect future decisions in our governmental institutions and other local units of government.

The testimony, which was filed, can be found at the following .pdf links:

Actual Recorded Testimony for HJRCA49 - House

Testimony for HJRCA49 - Senate

April 20, 2012

SUAA Mini Briefing

No one can say that this week in Springfield was not productive. Some might agree that it was also destructive, depending on which side of the issues you were on. The decisions which are being made will most likely cause even more people to flee from State and local government positions.

Click to read the entire Mini Briefing.

April 20, 2012

Governor Quinn Proposes Bold Plan to
Stabilize the Public Pension System

CHICAGO-April 20, 2012. Governor Pat Quinn today announced a bold plan that secures public workers' retirement while fixing the state's pension problem that has been created over decades of fiscal mismanagement. The proposal is expected to save taxpayers $65 to $85 billion based on current actuarial assumptions. The changes will lead to greater certainty in Illinois' business climate, respond to concerns from ratings' agencies regarding the state's unfunded pension liability and support the continuation of the state's capital plan that is putting hundreds of thousands of Illinois residents back to work. The Governor's proposal follows weeks of discussion by the Governor's pension working group.

Click to read the entire Press Release on the WUIS news blog. You can also listen to an audio version of Governor Quinn's speech, access a Pensions Fact Sheet and the Public Pension Stabilization Plan if you scroll to the bottom of the page.

Hear Governor Quinn's entire news conference on his pension plan... Audio Link

April 5, 2012

SUAA Mini Briefing

Thinking back on the days right before the Legislative Spring Break (beginning March 30 through April 16) there were several reasons for positive reactions to the decisions that were made in both the House and the Senate. March 30th was the deadline date for the third reading of the substantive bills. Those substantive bills have now left the House of their origination. Today's focus will be on the House of Representatives because this is where most of the bills on the SUAA watch originated.

Click to read the entire Mini Briefing.

April 5, 2012

Legislative Bills SUAA is Following

Please click on the links below to read the reports.

HJRCA49

General Interest Legislation

Appropriations Bills

Pension Reform Bills

University Specific Legislation

Community College Bills

March 23, 2012

SUAA Mini Briefing

Click to read the entire Mini Briefing.

Click to read Senator Cullerton's City Club Side Show

March 22, 2012

Legislative Bills SUAA is Following

Please click on the links below to read the reports.

General Interest Legislation

Appropriations Bills

Pension Reform Bills

March 19, 2012

2012 Northern Illinois Regional Meetings
"Mobilizing for 2012 and Beyond"

The 2012 Northern Illinois Regional Meetings will be held on April 10th at Elgin Community College and April 13th at Moraine Valley Community College. You will find the registration forms and more information about the meetings by clicking the link below. Please register by April 4th, 2012.

2012 Northern Illinois Regional Meetings PDF.

March 14, 2012

Fixing the Future: Pensions

During Wednesday's 90-minute meeting on pension reform, NIU President John Peters and Steve Cunningham, vice president of Human Resources and Compliance, sought to explain how Illinois' government racked up $85 billion in unfunded liability and why NIU will see an estimated 200 to 400 faculty retirements this year.

Click to read the entire article "Fixing the future: Pensions".

March 14, 2012

Executive Director Linda Brookhart Celebrates 5 Years at SUAA!

March 9, 2012

SUAA Mini Briefing

Panel on Pension Policy for SURS Participants
The IGPA (Institute of Government &Public Affairs) presented a proposal for a hybrid retirement system for employees of public universities and community colleges at open forums held on the three University of Illinois campuses.

Click to read the entire Mini Briefing.

March 8, 2012

Judge Rules in Favor of Public Workers in Florida Education Group's Lawsuit
Over Mandatory Pension 'Contribution'

TALLAHASSEE - In a stinging rebuke to Gov. Rick Scott and legislative Republicans, a state judge struck down a key portion of last year's pension overhaul, a decision that could eventually force the state to return hundreds of millions of dollars to its employees.

Click to read the entire article Judge Rules in Favor of Public Workers.

February 29, 2012

SUAA Mini Briefing

Since Governor Quinn's Budget Address on February 22nd there have been an abundance of newspaper articles and newscasts about all sorts of issues facing the State of Illinois; most of which will require legislators to make some very hard decisions. Medicaid is collapsing. Public pensions are still under fire. Public health insurance is in question. The closing of certain institutions will definitely create further economic problems. Making additional cuts to State government will translate to even fewer services.  All require the people to make sacrifices.  The solutions will be sacrifices that everyone will feel.  How deep the sacrifices have to be; no one knows yet.  At this time, it does not look like anything is untouchable. Everything is on the table.

Click here to read the entire Mini Briefing.

February 17, 2012

Governor Quinn will Present Budget Address on Wednesday, February 22nd

At Noon on Wednesday, February 22nd all eyes will be focused on the Governor as he presents his Budget Address from the House of Representatives . You will be able to access it live through the General Assembly's website. There will also be numerous radio and TV stations broadcasting live. Please try to make time to hear this speech. The Governor should provide many clues as to what is coming that will affect all of us.

To ready for this you might want to take a look at the 2012 Three Year Budget Projection presented by the Governor's Office of Budget and Management. In addition, the Civic Federation has a 57 page report which looks at the State's fiscal picture five years out. You can find this report here.

February 15, 2012

FACT SHEET
House Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment #5

If HJCA#5 becomes a part of the State Constitution, how will public education in Illinois be affected?

Click to read the entire FACT SHEET.

February 12, 2012

Miller: Quinn Looks to Pension Reform for Savings

Read Rich Miller's Capitol Fax Blog posted February 12, 2012 in the Southtown Star titled "Quinn Looks to Pension Reform for Savings".

February 01, 2012

State of the State Address

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn delivered his State of the State address at the Illinois Capitol on Wednesday, February 1, 2012.

Here is a link to the full text.
State of the State Address - Text Version

Here is a link to an MP3 download that includes the analysis.
State of the State Address and Analysis - Audio Version

January 23, 2012

The State Universities Annuitants Association will be supporting legislation to change the Illinois Pension Code that would guarantee the States' share of the pension costs for current and future State-funded Universities and Community Colleges' employees.

SUAA has drafted proposed legislation based on similar assurance language in 40 ILCS 5/7-172.1 that allows the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF) to enforce payments by municipalities for pension fund contributions.  In exchange for this amendment, SUAA would endorse a modest increase in the pension contribution rate for all State funded Universities and Community Colleges' employees.

A June 2011 report from the National Institute for Retirement Security identified six retirement systems in the US that have weathered the current recession better than other public pension systems.  One of those in that report was the IMRF.[1] 

SUAA believes laws that enforced payments to IMRF is the primary reason it has a funding ratio far above other retirement systems and SUAA is working to pass similar enforcement mechanisms for our members.

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