Supreme Court Set To Rule On Constitutional Challenge Over State Retiree Health Insurance Law
From the Madison County Record
The Illinois Supreme Court on Thursday is expected to decide whether a law requiring state retirees to start paying premiums for their health insurance is constitutional.
The anticipated ruling in Roger Kanerva et al., etc. v. Malcolm Weems, etc., et al. will not only resolve the constitutional question for thousands of retirees affected by the new law, but will likely provide court watchers and state leaders a glance into how the justices may react to a pension dispute expected to wind up before them in the near future.
At issue in Kanerva is Public Act 97-695, a law Gov. Patrick J. Quinn signed in 2012.
The law, which took effect July 1, 2013, requires retired Illinois employees, judges and university workers to pay premiums for their health insurance, something they previously didn’t have to do after serving the state for four to 20 years depending on their positions.
The Supreme Court in 2012 consolidated four suits brought over the law in the Sangamon County Circuit Court. The suits were filed in Madison, Sangamon and Randolph counties by several plaintiffs, including former Fifth District Appellate Court Justice Gordon Maag and members of the state retirement systems.
Sangamon County Associate Judge Steven Nardulli sided with the state, saying “health insurance benefits are not guaranteed pension benefits protected by the Pension Protection Clause” and as such, “plaintiffs do not have a vested contractual interest in free health insurance.”
After Nardulli dismissed the consolidated lawsuit, the Supreme Court agreed to review the case on direct appeal as it deals with the constitutionality of a state law. The justices heard arguments in the case in September 2013.
Before the high court, attorneys for the plaintiffs argued that the law is unconstitutional because it violates the Pension Clause, which refers to membership in the state’s pension and retirement systems as an “enforceable, contractual relationship, the benefits of which shall not be diminished or impaired.”
Read more in our daily News Update...
From the Madison County Record
The Illinois Supreme Court on Thursday is expected to decide whether a law requiring state retirees to start paying premiums for their health insurance is constitutional.
The anticipated ruling in Roger Kanerva et al., etc. v. Malcolm Weems, etc., et al. will not only resolve the constitutional question for thousands of retirees affected by the new law, but will likely provide court watchers and state leaders a glance into how the justices may react to a pension dispute expected to wind up before them in the near future.
At issue in Kanerva is Public Act 97-695, a law Gov. Patrick J. Quinn signed in 2012.
The law, which took effect July 1, 2013, requires retired Illinois employees, judges and university workers to pay premiums for their health insurance, something they previously didn’t have to do after serving the state for four to 20 years depending on their positions.
The Supreme Court in 2012 consolidated four suits brought over the law in the Sangamon County Circuit Court. The suits were filed in Madison, Sangamon and Randolph counties by several plaintiffs, including former Fifth District Appellate Court Justice Gordon Maag and members of the state retirement systems.
Sangamon County Associate Judge Steven Nardulli sided with the state, saying “health insurance benefits are not guaranteed pension benefits protected by the Pension Protection Clause” and as such, “plaintiffs do not have a vested contractual interest in free health insurance.”
After Nardulli dismissed the consolidated lawsuit, the Supreme Court agreed to review the case on direct appeal as it deals with the constitutionality of a state law. The justices heard arguments in the case in September 2013.
Before the high court, attorneys for the plaintiffs argued that the law is unconstitutional because it violates the Pension Clause, which refers to membership in the state’s pension and retirement systems as an “enforceable, contractual relationship, the benefits of which shall not be diminished or impaired.”
Read more in our daily News Update...