Chicago City Wire

Brad Stephens introduced HB1648 in the Illinois House on Jan. 23, 2025, during the general assembly session 104, according to the Illinois General Assembly.

According to the Illinois General Assembly site, the legislature summarized the bill's official text as follows: "Amends the Downstate Firefighter Article of the Illinois Pension Code. Provides that a pensioner, annuitant, applicant for a refund, disability beneficiary, or other beneficiary does not have the right to transfer or assign his or her pension, annuity, refund, or disability benefit, or any part thereof, by mortgage or otherwise; except that an annuitant or disability beneficiary may direct, in writing, that a monthly payment be made to an association or organization with which the annuitant or disability beneficiary or the annuitant's or disability beneficiary's surviving spouse may be affiliated by virtue of his or her fire service or for hospitalization insurance purposes."

The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.

In essence, this bill amends the Illinois Pension Code to protect firefighter pensions from being seized or used to satisfy any debts, claims, or judgments against them. It explicitly states that pension funds cannot be held, taken, or distributed for any purposes other than providing pensions to retired firefighters and their beneficiaries. Furthermore, pensioners, annuitants, or disability beneficiaries cannot transfer or assign their benefits through mortgage or other means. However, they may authorize, in writing, monthly payments to be made to associations or organizations related to their fire service or for hospitalization insurance purposes.

Brad Stephens has proposed one other bill since the beginning of the 104th session.

Brad Stephens is currently serving in the Illinois State House, representing the state's 20th House District. He replaced previous state representative Michael P. McAuliffe in 2019.

Bills in Illinois follow a multi-step legislative process, beginning with introduction in either the House or Senate, followed by committee review, floor debates, and votes in both chambers before reaching the governor for approval or veto. The General Assembly operates on a biennial schedule, and while typically thousands of bills are introduced each session, only a fraction successfully pass through the process to become law.

You can read more about bills and other measures here.

Bill Number	Date Introduced	Short Description
HB1648	01/23/2025	Amends the Downstate Firefighter Article of the Illinois Pension Code. Provides that a pensioner, annuitant, applicant for a refund, disability beneficiary, or other beneficiary does not have the right to transfer or assign his or her pension, annuity, refund, or disability benefit, or any part thereof, by mortgage or otherwise; except that an annuitant or disability beneficiary may direct, in writing, that a monthly payment be made to an association or organization with which the annuitant or disability beneficiary or the annuitant's or disability beneficiary's surviving spouse may be affiliated by virtue of his or her fire service or for hospitalization insurance purposes.
HB1502	01/21/2025	Amends the O'Hare Driver Safety Act. Defines "Department" as the Illinois Department of Transportation. In a provision prohibition stopping or standing within one-half mile of O'Hare International Airport, provides that "traffic route" refers to all routes within the defined radii, including routes that are under the jurisdiction or partial jurisdiction of the Department. Effective immediately.