Tier 2 pension employees consider leaving the profession early: Peoria workers seek changes to retirement benefits

PEORIA ( 25News Now ) - Pension workers set to receive Tier 2 benefits after employment call on state legislators to even out retirement earnings. Hundreds of pensioners traveled to Springfield on Wednesday to make their voices heard.

Illinois has two pension payouts, Tier 1 and Tier 2, but workers under the latter said they receive significantly less for the same amount of work.

Jenna Stancil teaches kindergarten at Peoria Public School's Hines Primary. She said she's always wanted to work with children and loves the schedule of being a teacher, but doesn't love being under Tier 2.

"It just really makes me rethink, do I want to keep doing this for the rest of my life?" Stancil said.

Teachers can retire and draw full benefits from a Tier 2 pension at 67, nearly 10 years later than someone under Tier 1. They also have a less profitable average salary pension calculation, leading to a smaller pension withdrawal.

Peoria Federation of Teachers Vice President Leslie Danage wants legislators to consider if people that old should still be working. She also believes fewer people will be interested in essential jobs that already suffer from staff shortages.

There are 3,500 unfilled teacher positions in Illinois.

"It's not very appealing to ask an 18, 19, 20-year-old to sit in a classroom and teach until they're 67 to be able to draw a pension," Danage said. "Especially because part of the reason that we draw a pension is because of the salaries that we draw, right? Pension is one of the things that has led people into this profession."

This system affects not only teachers but also government employees and unionized police officers and firefighters.

Lawmakers created the Tier 2 pension in 2011 after previous generations ignored their duty to contribute to the funds and created debt, according to Senator Robert Martwick (D-Chicago). He said the goal was to save money, but now, Tier 2 benefits are too small.

Martwick also serves as the Senate Pension Committee Chair. He said the Tier 2 pension fails the federal 'Safe Habor Test,' which states a retirement benefit must be equal to or better than social security.

Governor JB Pritzker wants to meet the Safe Harbor minimum, but a bill in the House and Senate is looking for more.

"In order to address these really important issues of recruitment and retention of essential public servants, we need to not just do the minimal, but rather to enhance those benefits a little bit more to create what would be a reasonable and respectful retirement for our public servants," Martwick said.

Martwick is the lead sponsor for SB3988 and said it's the first step in addressing pension workers' concerns.

He wants to give the issue a respected amount of consideration to avoid repeating mistakes from the past while respecting the taxpayer money and fulfilling his obligation to pension workers like Jenna Stancil.

"This is what I've always wanted to do with my life, but if it's not going to help me be able to live sustainably when I'm done with this career, then I have to rethink it for my own future," Stancil said.

If passed, SB3988 would align Tier 2 benefits with Tier 1 regarding the final average salary pension calculation, retirement age, and cost-of-living adjustments.