Working to reform the state’s broken pension system, state Rep. Jehan Gordon (D-Peoria) recently supported two measures aimed at closing loopholes and preventing egregious abuses of state pension benefits.

“As our state works to address its current pension challenges we must be cognizant and rectify all abuses in the pension system because this can not be tolerated,” Gordon said. “We cannot afford to continue allowing insiders to inflate their pensions by taking advantage of the system at the taxpayers’ expense. I believe that these new measures are one step that will help save our state money and prevent abuses from taking place in the future.”

House Bill 3815 prevents an employee from using their compensation as a full-time worker for another job to determine their taxpayer-funded pensions in cases where they take a leave of absence without pay from a taxpayer-funded job. The measure works to correct a law that enables workers who take a leave of absence from city employment to use their salary from being employed by a private organization to determine their taxpayer-funded pension. This practice has placed an added burden on already strained pension systems and simply is not fair. The bill has passed the Senate and will return to the House for further consideration.

Addressing another instance of pension abuse, Gordon voted in favor of House Bill 3865, which would block lobbyists for teachers unions from counting years of time representing their union toward a state teacher pension. The bill closes a loophole in state law that allowed lobbyists for a teachers union to take advantage of the brief window to get a substitute teaching certificate, sub for one day and count their years as public servants toward a pension with the Illinois Teachers’ Retirement System.

“Many teachers and other public servants rely on their pensions for retirement income to maintain a modest living.” Gordon explains, “We need to close these loopholes because it is the right thing to do. Hard-working men and women depend on the pension that they contributed to through their years of service and we need to do everything we can to ensure that their pension is funded.”

For more information, contact Gordon’s constituent service office at (309) 681-1992, email repjgordon@gmail.com.