Page 25 - FOP June 2019 Magazine

The spirit vs. the letter of the law
Recently, a police officer learned that he had a military leave of absence for 2.7 years and no contributions were made into his pension during that time. The officer has more than
lic interest in safeguarding and promoting military service by: (A) minimizing disadvantages to military service in civilian careers...” And it goes further: “(D) ensuring that public entities are model employers of reserve components by providing additional benefits...” This act most accurate- ly depicts the legislator’s intent regarding benefits to ser-
vice members.
The interpretation of the law by representatives of the
Policemen’s Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago may be accurate, but it most definitely goes contrary to the intent of our law makers. I will work to get the pension law amended. Meanwhile, all Reserve and National Guard members need to manage their battle assemblies and military leave of absences when they are not paying into their pension. You need to get a target date of retirement from the CPD and do what is necessary
to make it happen.
Did you know that we have 18.2 million veterans in our coun-
try, and just about half of them have some type of disability? Let’s honor them by flying the Stars and Stripes on Flag Day (June 14). Veterans with a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) disability
rating of 10 percent and higher are eligible to enter our nation- al parks for free. The Access Pass admits disabled veterans and any passengers in their vehicle (non-commercial) at per-vehicle fee areas, and the pass owner plus three additional adults where per-person fees are charged. For details, go to the VA website at: https://www.blogs.va.gov/VAntage/60590/disabled-veterans-el- igible-free-national-park-service-lifetime-access-pass/.
Thank you for all you do and please be careful out there.
If you have questions, concerns or comments, please email LTC_Cruz@wowway.com.
31 years, but because of the military leave,
he was short five months to make 29 and a
day so that he may receive 75 percent upon retirement. The officer requested to pay the
five months into the pension but was told he was required to pay the full 2.7 years — amount- ing to $19,488.37.
The representative from the Policemen’s Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago was applying 40 ILCS 5/512 Illinois Pension Law, which states: “...provided that such policeman shall pay into this fund the same amount that would have been deducted from his salary had he been a policeman during the aforementioned por- tion of such military or naval service.” Clearly, the state wanted to ensure that a police officer did not miss a retirement due to service to our country.
I also found that the same law, in Section 5-214.3, allows for a police officer who has military service prior to becoming a police officer to purchase two years of benefit toward the pension. The officer may purchase this benefit by monthly increments. But our brothers or sisters who are current police officers when called to military duty and return must purchase the entire time they did not pay into the pension?
In previous articles, I’ve written about 330 ILCS 61, the Service Member Employment and Reemployment Rights Act. In Section 1 it states: “Legislative intent. As a guide to the interpretation and application of this Act, the public policy of the State is declared as follows: (1) The General Assembly recognizes the common pub-
Re
MILITARY
R
y
e
c
cor
or
d
d
i
i
n
ng
gS
Se
ec
c
r
re
e
t
ta
ar
ry
COMMITTEE
R
P
R
E
E
O
P
O
R
R
Report
T
T
JERRY CRUZ
CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ JUNE 2019 25