North Cook News

A proposal by Rep. Robert Martwick (R-Chicago) that would let police officers count up to five years of work performed outside of Illinois toward their state pensions reached the Personnel & Pensions Committee on Jan. 29.

Critics say the law amounts to a one-off pension benefit increase and constitutes buying of service credit time.

Martwick introduced HB0226 on Jan. 7. Two days later, the bill cleared the House Rules Committee, according to the Illinois General Assembly’s website.

Although the bill would allow service as a federal officer or an officer in another state to count toward an Illinois police pension, it requires that the five years of service was performed as a full-time employee. The credit may also not count toward another pension simultaneously, and the officer must apply for it by written application to count in Illinois.

Officers who apply to have out-of-state service credited toward their Illinois pensions must file their application within three years of the date HB 0226 becomes effective, and must provide proof of eligibility within that timeframe. It would affect two pieces of the state code: 40 ILCS 5/14-110 and 40 ILCS 5/14-152.1.