PARK RIDGE, IL—State Senator Dan Kotowski’s pension reform legislation has been signed into law by the governor.

Senate Bill 369 revises the way pensions are calculated for members of the General Assembly and Judges and works to prevent abuses of the system. In most of the state’s pension programs, pensioners are paid an amount based upon the average of their final salaries. General Assembly members and Judges received pensions based on the amount earned on their final day of work. This important difference allowed General Assembly members or judges to take higher paying state jobs, work a few days, quit and receive a much larger pension.

This will no longer be the case for newly elected General Assembly members and judges. Like general state employees, teachers, and public university employees, their pensions will be based on the final average salary their 48 highest paying consecutive months of employment.

“This is a great way to ensure fairness and save taxpayer dollars,” stated Kotowski.

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