40 ILCS 5/22-101 — Illinois Code / Chapter 40 / Act 5 / Section 22-101::v1
40 ILCS 5/22-101
Status: in_force

(Text of Section from P.A. 97-813)

Retirement Plan for Chicago Transit Authority Employees.

(a) There shall be established and maintained by the Authority created by the "Metropolitan Transit Authority Act", approved April 12, 1945, as amended, (referred to in this Section as the "Authority") a financially sound pension and retirement system adequate to provide for all payments when due under such established system or as modified from time to time by ordinance of the Chicago Transit Board or collective bargaining agreement. For this purpose, the Board must make contributions to the established system as required under this Section and may make any additional contributions provided for by Board ordinance or collective bargaining agreement. The participating employees shall make such periodic payments to the established system as required under this Section and may make any additional contributions provided for by Board ordinance or collective bargaining agreement.

Provisions shall be made by the Board for all officers, except those who first become members on or after January 1, 2012, and employees of the Authority appointed pursuant to the "Metropolitan Transit Authority Act" to become, subject to reasonable rules and regulations, participants of the pension or retirement system with uniform rights, privileges, obligations and status as to the class in which such officers and employees belong. The terms, conditions and provisions of any pension or retirement system or of any amendment or modification thereof affecting employees who are members of any labor organization may be established, amended or modified by agreement with such labor organization, provided the terms, conditions and provisions must be consistent with this Act, the annual funding levels for the retirement system established by law must be met and the benefits paid to future participants in the system may not exceed the benefit ceilings set for future participants under this Act and the contribution levels required by the Authority and its employees may not be less than the contribution levels established under this Act.

(b) The Board of Trustees shall consist of 11 members appointed as follows: (i) 5 trustees shall be appointed by the Chicago Transit Board; (ii) 3 trustees shall be appointed by an organization representing the highest number of Chicago Transit Authority participants; (iii) one trustee shall be appointed by an organization representing the second-highest number of Chicago Transit Authority participants; (iv) one trustee shall be appointed by the recognized coalition representatives of participants who are not represented by an organization with the highest or second-highest number of Chicago Transit Authority participants; and (v) one trustee shall be selected by the Regional Transportation Authority Board of Directors, and the trustee shall be a professional fiduciary who has experience in the area of collectively bargained pension plans. Trustees shall serve until a successor has been appointed and qualified, or until resignation, death, incapacity, or disqualification.

Any person appointed as a trustee of the board shall qualify by taking an oath of office that he or she will diligently and honestly administer the affairs of the system and will not knowingly violate or willfully permit the violation of any of the provisions of law applicable to the Plan, including Sections 1-109, 1-109.1, 1-109.2, 1-110, 1-111, 1-114, and 1-115 of the Illinois Pension Code.

Each trustee shall cast individual votes, and a majority vote shall be final and binding upon all interested parties, provided that the Board of Trustees may require a supermajority vote with respect to the investment of the assets of the Retirement Plan, and may set forth that requirement in the Retirement Plan documents, by-laws, or rules of the Board of Trustees. Each trustee shall have the rights, privileges, authority, and obligations as are usual and customary for such fiduciaries.

The Board of Trustees may cause amounts on deposit in the Retirement Plan to be invested in those investments that are permitted investments for the investment of moneys held under any one or more of the pension or retirement systems of the State, any unit of local government or school district, or any agency or instrumentality thereof. The Board, by a vote of at least two-thirds of the trustees, may transfer investment management to the Illinois State Board of Investment, which is hereby authorized to manage these investments when so requested by the Board of Trustees.

Notwithstanding any other provision of this Article or any law to the contrary, any person who first becomes a member of the Chicago Transit Board on or after January 1, 2012 shall not be eligible to participate in this Retirement Plan.

(c) All individuals who were previously participants in the Retirement Plan for Chicago Transit Authority Employees shall remain participants, and shall receive the same benefits established by the Retirement Plan for Chicago Transit Authority Employees, except as provided in this amendatory Act or by subsequent legislative enactment or amendment to the Retirement Plan. For Authority employees hired on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly, the Retirement Plan for Chicago Transit Authority Employees shall be the exclusive retirement plan and such employees shall not be eligible for any supplemental plan, except for a deferred compensation plan funded only by employee contributions.

For all Authority employees who are first hired on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly and are participants in the Retirement Plan for Chicago Transit Authority Employees, the following terms, conditions and provisions with respect to retirement shall be applicable:

(1) Such participant shall be eligible for an