Illinois Supreme Court Upholds Law Allowing Consolidation of Police and Firefighter Pension Funds

Last Friday, in the case Arlington Heights Police Pension Fund v. Pritzker (2024 IL 129471), the Illinois Supreme Court upheld a 2019 statutory law which consolidated 649 individual pension funds into just two.  It was a unanimous decision by the Court allowing consolidation into two pension funds so as to more easily and at less cost, to manage investments and payouts for retired police officers and firefighters.  This consolidation will eliminate administrative costs paid out of the individual pension funds and allow pensioners better access to larger investments which were previously not available to the hundreds of small individual funds.  Illinois Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis wrote in her opinion that this law had no impact on plaintiffs receiving their promised monetary benefits.  Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker called the Supreme Court’s ruling as “a victory for Illinois taxpayers, local governments and first responders.” This law shows that the Illinois legislature is trying to tackle pension reform through legislation.  Without this type of legislation which provides pension reforms, Illinois taxpayers will continue to face higher property taxes in order to pay for higher pension costs.  State legislators have failed for many years to adequately address the pension funding crisis and this legislation is strong attempt to address it instead of kicking the can down the road.