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Election wrap-up
This year’s interesting election season has finally ended. Nationally, most were surprised by the victory of Donald Trump for President.
In Illinois, Democrats won the U.S. Senate seat race with Tammy Duckworth, the State Comptroller race with Susanna Mendoza, and the North Shore Congressional seat with Brad Schneider. In State Legislative campaigns,
in the Senate. The Senate did override the veto in the first week of session. The House also overrode the veto, so the bill now becomes law. This was a huge victory in the legis- lative arena for Lodge 7.
This legislation contains language for widows who re- ceive a minimum pension and simply provides that pro- spectively, these modest annuities shall be no less than
125 percent of the federal poverty level.
The legislation also corrects the unintended con-
sequences of PA 96-1495 regarding benefits for a
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the Republicans had more success. The Republicans won three seats along the I-80 corri- dor—one each in Rock Island, LaSalle and Kanka-
kee, as well as one in McHenry County and one in
far downstate Marion while losing one in the Metro
East area of St. Louis. That’s a net gain of four seats
for the Republicans in the House, so now the balance falls below the 71 seats needed to hold a super majority. In the Senate, the Democrats lost two seats but held on to their super majority. The Republicans in the Senate won one seat in Marion and another in the Quincy area. In Chica- go, Republican Rep. Mike McAuliffe retained his seat in a hotly contested race.
Legislative update: A political victory
Our primary focus in the fall veto session is the override of SB 440. In the spring session, Senate Bill 440 passed the House (86 yeas/24 nays) and Senate (39 yeas/15 nays). We need to retain at least 71 yes votes in the House and 36
y Tier II first responder who is killed in the line of
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duty or dies while not in receipt of an annuity. It clarifies the original intent of the Tier II bill to en- sure that spousal survivors, children, disabled bene- ficiaries and dependent parents are entitled to a benefit
in the event of a participant’s death.
In addition, it contains language for retired members
who have not had a cost of living adjustment (COLA) in five years. Since 1982, the City has maintained the practice of providing a 3 percent simple COLA to first responder annuitants. However, they have done so by regularly mov- ing the “born before” eligibility requirements every five years to ensure all retirees, regardless of age, receive a sim- ple COLA. The current date of 1955 has not been moved since 2004. This language simply moves the “born before” date from Jan. 1, 1955, to Jan. 1, 1966. d
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22 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ DECEMBER 2016