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发帖数: 9764 | 1 【 以下文字转载自 Military 讨论区 】
发信人: noid (士无名), 信区: Military
标 题: 好日无边，当一天老师就可以拿教师的养老金
发信站: BBS 未名空间站 (Mon Apr 22 12:35:20 2019, 美东)
Editorial: Teach for a day, get a pension for life: Another reason to fix
Illinois' constitution
David Piccioli
Lobbyist David Piccioli sought a larger pension after serving as a
substitute teacher for one day. (Illinois Secretary of State)
Editorial Board
Editorials reflect the opinion of the Editorial Board, as determined by the
members of the board, the editorial page editor and the publisher.
The Illinois Supreme Court once again has illuminated for Illinois taxpayers
the need to amend the rigid pension clause of the state constitution. The
justices on Thursday upheld as constitutional a teacher pension for a
retired lobbyist who substitute taught for one day.
Sub for a day. Pension for life. It’s outrageous. The Supreme Court
continues to interpret the pension clause to the extreme.
The ruling upheld a controversial state law that allowed a lobbyist for the
Illinois Federation of Teachers, David Piccioli, to become certified as a
substitute teacher in December 2006 by working one day at a Springfield
elementary school — and to buy pension credit for his 10 previous years
working as a lobbyist. That sweet deal qualified him for a pension windfall
from a teachers retirement fund that as of late 2018 carried an unfunded
liability of more than $75 billion-with-a-B. Because he also draws a pension
from a previous job as a House Democratic aide, Piccioli’s total pension
income now rises to nearly $100,000. His pensionable income from the
Teachers’ Retirement System is based off his salary from the IFT— another
questionable pension loophole, which the Supreme Court upheld last year.
A pension bill signed by former Gov. Rod Blagojevich in 2007 allowed
Piccioli to retroactively count his years lobbying toward a teacher pension
if he taught for one day in the public schools. He bought service credits
for his years lobbying and began collecting a pension when he retired from
the IFT in 2012.
Even legislative Democrats, IFT backers included, questioned the deal and
tried to claw it back by passing a law that Thursday’s ruling invalidates.
“That's not characteristic of the common, hardworking public-sector worker
who makes a modest income and has a modest retirement benefit," then-Sen.
Kwame Raoul, D-Chicago, said in 2011 when the Tribune and WGN-TV exposed the
deal. “It gives people the impression of otherwise.”
Last year the court upheld a dubious loophole that allowed government
employees who left those jobs to work for their union in the private sector
to still qualify for a public pension — with payouts based on their much
higher salaries in their union roles. One example: Former Chicago labor boss
Dennis Gannon, who started out working for the city, was able to retire at
age 50 with a city pension based on his union salary of at least $240,000. |
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