Governor JB Pritzker signed a pension consolidation bill into law December 18. The legislation, SB1300, will consolidate Illinois’ 649 downstate and suburban police and fire pension funds. By consolidating pension assets, SB1300 will increase investment returns and decrease the cost of managing the funds.
State representative Mark Batinick (R-Plainfield) was the chief Republican negotiator of the bill, which passed in the House of Representatives in the Fall. As the Republican spokesperson on the Personnel and Pensions Committee in the House of Representatives, representative Batinick has pushed for pension reform efforts and proudly supported this initiative as the bill’s chief co-sponsor.
“Our State’s broken pension system has been a heavy weight on the backs of Illinois taxpayers,” said Batinick. “With today’s bill signed into law I can proudly say that we are providing relief to our hardworking residents. This was a significant bipartisan reform effort that will make positive change. The work is not done on pensions, but today we can all celebrate this success.”
Over the next five years, this pension consolidation is expected to produce an additional $820 Million to $2.5 billion in investment returns alone, which could mean lower contributions funded by property taxes.
—Office of State representative Mark Batinick