Here is the first change in the pension law being featured by the Chicago Tribune Sunday on its front page and today on its editorial page.

You’ve perhaps heard about the former Mike Madigan and Shirley Madigan employee who worked less than the eight years required to vest who ended up getting an over $100,000 a year pension based on her final four years of salary as a lobbyist with the Illinois Federation of Teachers.

If you read the following, would you have seen red flags?

(c) An individual who represents or is employed as an
officer or employee of a statewide labor organization that
represents members of this System may participate in the System
and shall be deemed an employee, provided that

• the individual has previously earned creditable service under this Article,
• the individual files with the System an irrevocable election to become a participant within 6 months after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 94th General Assembly, and
• (3) the individual does not receive credit for that employment under any other provisions of thisCode. An employee under this subsection (c) is responsible for paying to the System both (i) employee contributions based on the actual compensation received for service with the labor organization and (ii) employer contributions based on the percentage of payroll certified by the board; all or any partof these contributions may be paid on the employee’s behalf orpicked up for tax purposes (if authorized under federal law) by the labor organization.

A person who is an employee as defined in this subsection
(c) may establish service credit for similar employment prior
to becoming an employee under this subsection by paying to the
System for that employment the contributions specified in this
subsection, plus interest at the effective rate from the date
of service to the date of payment. However, credit shall not be
granted under this subsection (c) for any such prior employment
for which the applicant received credit under any other
provision of this Code or during which the applicant was on a
leave of absence.
(Source: P.A. 92-14, eff. 6-28-01; 93-685, eff. 7-8-04; 93-839,
eff. 7-30-04; 93-1069, eff. 1-15-05.)

Or would it have sounded fair to you.

We’ll publish the roll calls later, but your could call you legislator and ask them before we do that.