Pension fund will sustain itself

As retired elementary school teachers, with a combined 65 years of service to Illinois schoolchildren, and the parents of a third-year teacher, we are alarmed about Senate Bill 512. This legislation will unfairly penalize thousands of educators in order to solve a problem that the state has created by not making its legally obligated contributions to the Teachers’ Retirement System.

The proposed amendment explicitly violates the Illinois Constitution. Article XIII, Section 5 of the Constitution states: “Membership in any pension or retirement system of the State, any unit of local government or school district, or any agency or instrumentality thereof, shall be an enforceable contractual relationship, the benefits of which shall not be diminished or impaired.”

The proposed legislation is also unfair to educators, who have never missed a pension contribution. By law, the state government is also required to contribute but has failed to do so. SB 512 would divert much-needed contributions from the current plan, harming the financial stability of our pension. We hear that the current pension system is not sustainable. Not true! Under the current plan, TRS and its investments and contributions from its membership will continue to accrue principal and interest over the remainder of a teacher’s life as long as unused equity exists. During the last fiscal year, TRS paid out $3.9 billion in benefits, but collected $6.8 billion in revenue, more than enough to meet current obligations.

Remember, just as educators do not all begin their careers at the same time, neither will they all retire at the same time. And, while we read in the newspapers of very high dollar amounts paid to some pensioners, the average pension in Illinois is just over $40,000 per year.

Rich and Andi Ammentorp

Schaumburg