Illinois Supreme Court Opinion in Kanerva v. Weems

On July 3, 2014, the Illinois Supreme court issued a very clear declaration in the State Retirees’ Healthcare case (Kanerva v. Weems), that all benefits which a participant enjoys from his or her membership in an Illinois government pension or retirement system are protected benefits, not just pension annuity payments.

And the decision seems to have followed our very targeted arguments that (1) the Constitution’s plain language protecting “benefits of participation” in an Illinois government retirement system means it is not limited to pension payments, and (2) that the court should follow the decisions of the Hawaii and Alaska Supreme Courts, and distinguish away the New York decision that would limit protection to the amount of one’s annuity.

Read the decision here:  Kanerva v. Weems, 115811 (July 3, 2014)

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