IEA’s Director of Government Relations reports on the first 2012 meeting of the Illinois General Assembly. Jim Reed is urging IEA members to lobby lawmakers in their home districts via the IEA’s Back Home Lobby Days initiative. The key dates lawmakers should be available in their home districts include: February 13-17, March 12-16, April 2-6 [...]
House Pensions Committee meets, takes no action The House Pensions Committee met Sunday but did not take action on any legislation that impacts the retirement funds in which our members participate (IMRF, SURS, TRS). However, during the committee meeting there were discussions regarding the constitutionality of HB 3813. This is recently passed legislation that affects [...]
Pension Bills that Moved this Week HB 3813 (Senator Raoul, D-Chicago/Representative Cross, R-Oswego) passed. It affects a number of public employee unions, including IEA and IFT. The bill prevents future officers and employees of labor organizations from participating in TRS or SURS, even if they are currently doing so but not as an officer or [...]
The Buzz… A Fight to the Finish In many ways, the 2011 legislative session ended the same way it began – at least with regard to pensions. The General Assembly has adjourned without voting on the major pension bill SB 512, just as the spring session ended without a vote on the same bill. Lawmakers return to [...]
Call to Action Issued By IEA around Pensions IEA has issued a Call to Action. IEA anticipates the possibility of legislative action around SB 512 during the second week of the veto session. You are strongly encouraged to contact your legislators and voice your opposition to this legislation. Pension Bills that Moved this Week HB 3813 (Cross, [...]
The Buzz… Pensions Still a Hot Topic Shortly before the end of the contentious spring legislative session, Illinois House Leaders issued a letter announcing they would hold meetings, starting in the summer, on how state pensions could be modified or reformed. Speaker Michael Madigan (D) and Minority Leader Tom Cross (R) invited labor organizations, including [...]
Capital Bill The main reason that the General assembly was back in session yesterday was to deal with SB 2414. The capital bill needed legislative action in order to prevent the stoppage of capital and road projects across the state. The amended version of the bill, which was supported by IEA, would have generated an [...]
The Buzz… Started strong, ended even stronger! In January, we started this legislative session with 4,000 letters and phone calls to legislators expressing our concerns about three critical issues of: “No to TABOR” “No reduction in collective bargaining rights” “Support education reform in the form of Accountability for All.” We were successful with all these [...]
IEA Director of Government Relations Jim Reed
IEA President Ken Swanson explains the significance of what has happened, and, just as important, what hasn’t happened this week at the Illinois Statehouse. Public employees are fighting back against pension cut proposals and that has stopped sponsors of the pension cuts from introducing the legislation this week. Keep calling your state legislators – 888-412-6570 [...]
Illinois Education Association is an association of more than 130,000 members composed of Illinois elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty and staff, educational support professionals, retired educators and college students preparing to become teachers.
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