DuPage IRTA

Why join? Listen to these three members in a 3-min. video speak about why they joined.

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The state budget and pension funding were on our minds in June as the General Assembly adjourned without a true year-long budget. Our guest speakers included a field representative of Cong. Judy Biggert, State Rep. Darlene Senger, and a professor from College of DuPage who talked about voter motivation. We are continuing our lobbying of area legislators in concert with our state IRTA to protect and preserve the stability of our TRS funds.

Joe Purpura represents Region 4 of IRTA on our State Legislative Committee. He reports that the Illinois Legislature passed a $3.5 billion appropriation for pension funding for this fiscal year in July. The good news is that TRS will receive $2.1 billion of the $3.5 billion. The bad news is that the people of Illinois are saddled with an unbalanced budget. The $3.5 billion will come from bond sales (short term borrowing) at hopefully a rate of 3.5% annually for five years. This will make the state's fiscal 2011 budget drastically more difficult to resolve.

TRS ended the last fiscal with assets of about 29.15 billion, (preliminary number), a drop from last year's figure of 38.4 billion. It is expected that improved market conditions will improve the current number.

While we are currently ok on health insurance (No Increase!), be wary and alert concerning health coverage (TRIP) for the next fiscal year. Don't expect another year with no increase in premiums. BE AWARE THAT OUR HEALTH INSURANCE IS STATUTORY SO IT MAY BE CHANGED BY LEGISLATION. THIS REQUIRES OUR VIGILANCE!

When the state legislature finished their session at the end of May, one of the issues that was unresolved was Governor Quinn's plan to change the pension benefits for new hires in all the state pension systems. The House and Senate passed a joint resolution to form the Pension Modernization Task Force to study this issue. The Task Force was composed of a Chairperson, 2 Democratic Senators, 2 Democratic Reps, 2 Republican Senators, 2 Republican Reps, 4 union representatives (2 of whom are from IFT and IEA), 4 business representative and 2 annuitants. I was appointed as one of the annuitants.

The committee first met on June 18th and again on July 7th. We have formed 4 sub-committees- Investment Policy, Benefits, Funding and Collective Bargaining. I serve on the Benefits and Investment Policy Sub-committees. At the first two subcommittee meetings discussion ensued on issues such as the consolidation of the pension investments proposed by State Treasurer Giannoulias and changing the benefits of new hires to form a 2 tier pension system. At the last meeting there did not seem to be a push for the consolidation (TRS has a higher investment return than the Illinois State Board of Investments, which is the proposed administrator of the consolidated funds) and we might recommend against this proposal. The 2 Tier pension system is a bigger problem. At the last meeting we had a presentation from the Oregon Pension System discussing their 3 tier system. As we talked we found out that Oregon retirees on the lowest tier receive 60-70% of their salary in retirement AND they also receive social security which adds about 30-40% of their salary.

As you can see that's an even bigger benefit than we have here in Illinois AND the cost to Oregon is greater than the cost of our pension alone to Illinois. The real issue that our legislators have is that there is a public perception that our pensions are too rich (which they are not). The second perception is that if they change the pension system, the state will not have to make up the $80 billion (yes, that's a B!) that they owe the state pension systems. Any change in pension systems will NOT change that obligation that was created when the state legislators under-funded our pensions in previous years. So the issue facing the legislators is how do they clean up the mess they made of the pension system. Hopefully as more data is presented to the committee, we can move away from their desire to form a second tier to the real issue of how to make up the under-funding. I'll try to update everyone in the future.

Ed Rosenthal

Good news! We recently confirmed the selection of our vendor and itinerary for the DuPage IRTA tour to Greece / Turkey on November 3 – 11. The itinerary is primarily “Greece and Greek Island Cruising” with stops in Turkey. It is a land and cruise tour. All members will soon be mailed a flyer with full details and pricing. Until then you can click this web link to read about the tour: DuPage IRTA Tour to Greece and Turkey.

Once again we reviewed proposals from reputable vendors with size, experience, and good reputations. I found that Mayflower Tours, the vendor we used for our Australia / New Zealand tour, offered exceptional cost and value. Their price point for this tour was very attractive. Last year they served about 25,000 international travelers. This tour offers a wide array of the most popular and significant sights and includes a beautiful cruise in the Greek Islands area. And Mayflower provides our travelers with a unique FREE pick-up / return service! This is a great stress-reducer and money-saver. Early November is said to be an ideal time weather-wise for Greece and Turkey.

Your DuPage IRTA is happy to organize these yearly opportunities for members, family, and friends as a membership benefit. Be sure to mention your membership when booking. Please be aware that spaces are limited and may fill quickly. Watch for the time and location of a Q & A session about the tour. For those who have earned Mayflower Dollars on the last tour, remember to use them. I am looking forward to sharing this adventure with you!

Gary Elmen

Tour Chairperson

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Voter Voice

Copyrighted material
Last revised: August 18, 2009

Click here for

Voter Voice

Copyrighted material Last revised: August 18, 2009

Copyrighted material
Last revised: August 18, 2009