McHenry Times

Sen. Don DeWitte (R-West Dundee) is trying to understand the opposition to Senate Bill 3211. 

The bill would amend the Police Officers' Pension Investment Fund Article of the Illinois Pension Code.

"I never believed that their benefits were being detrimentally affected by this process. I think like most lore that gets started in Springfield a lot of it is based on hearsay and fear-mongering rather than dealing with these issues from a reality standpoint," DeWitte said during a recent hearing on the bill.

Bukola Bello, a witness before the panel, responding to a question from DeWitte, pointed out that there were many police unions that were against the legislation, and they were not invited to take part in any of the discussions. She also said that this has led to a lot of concerns, and this could bring about legal challenges.

"One of the parties of that litigation was the city of Elgin police pension fund, as you are probably aware," DeWitte responded during the session, adding that he tried to allay their fears. "While they felt they may have been justified, I just was not able to convince them that their funds were safe."

DeWitte mentioned that he tried to inform them that their money was safe and would not be used in any way to subsidize other pension funds.

"I'm sorry that it's taking more time for the police side to get it taken care of," he said during the hearing. "Frankly, I think it was a very level playing field for both sides regardless of the litigation. I mean … if we stopped legislation in Springfield every time somebody threatened a lawsuit, we'd never get anything done."

The bill is sponsored by Democratic Sen. Robert Martwick (D-Chicago). It was introduced on Jan. 14.

The bill amends the Illinois Pension Code and provides a transition period of no later than June 30, 2023, instead of the prior transition period that was 30 months after Jan. 1, 2020.

The bill has been referred to the Assignments committee.