Opinion ID: 2103506
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: First Emergency Budget Act, Public Act 87-14

Text: While plaintiffs' mandamus action was pending, the Governor and the legislature adopted a budget for fiscal year 1992, which was discovered to be $50 million short of the amount needed to balance the budget as required by the Illinois Constitution of 1970. (Ill. Const. 1970, art. VIII, § 2.) To remedy the shortfall, the legislature enacted the Governor's First Emergency Budget Relief Act (Pub. Act 87-14, eff. July 24, 1991) purporting to delegate to the Governor the authority to transfer up to $50 million from any of the special funds in the State treasury to the general revenue fund. Acting on this authority, the Governor directed the Comptroller to transfer $42 million from certain special funds to the general revenue fund. Of this amount, $21 million was to be transferred from the State Pensions Fund. In response to the Governor's directive to the Comptroller, to transfer $21 million from the State Pensions Fund to the general revenue fund, plaintiffs immediately sought entry of a temporary restraining order. Shortly thereafter, plaintiffs amended their mandamus complaint to add a count for injunction against the transfer and a count for declaratory relief as to the constitutionality of Public Act 87-14. Plaintiffs' emergency motion for a temporary restraining order (TRO) was granted on August 5, 1991, but later dissolved upon the circuit court's denial of plaintiffs' motion for preliminary injunction. The circuit court stayed dissolution of the TRO, however, to enable plaintiffs to seek relief in the appellate court through a motion for stay pending review of the interlocutory appeal from the denial of the TRO. The appellate court denied the motion, but the circuit court extended its stay to permit plaintiffs to seek review in this court. In September 1991, this court granted direct appeal (No. 72451) and stayed, pending appeal, the transfer of the $21 million from the State Pensions Fund to the general revenue fund. Plaintiffs' challenge to the transfer purportedly authorized by Public Act 87-14 was twofold: (1) allowing the Governor to determine the source and amount of money to be diverted from the special funds was an unconstitutional delegation of the legislature's power of appropriation; and (2) the diversion of the pension fund money to nonpension purposes, especially in light of the billions of dollars of unfunded liability, was an impairment of pension benefits prohibited by the State and Federal Constitutions.