SPRINGFIELD — About 14 years after a controversial enhanced pension program for some county officials was approved, the Legislature has voted to end it.

The Illinois Senate voted 56-0 Thursday to end the "enhanced county official" pension program in the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund. The Senate vote for the bill (HB 3253) follows a similar overwhelming vote in the House (110-0) and sends the bill to Gov. Pat Quinn's desk with plenty of momentum. The IMRF endorsed the bill, which was sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Mike Frerichs, D-Champaign.

"I can't imagine the governor not signing it," Frerichs said.

The enhanced-pension program was approved by the Legislature in 1997, but it required counties to individually sign up for it. More than half did so, including Champaign County.

But not long after the county board voted to become part of ECO, a handful of county officials voted to participate: former county board Chair Francis "Bud" Barker, a Republican; the late Gerrie Parr, a Democrat who was county auditor; the late Roger Little, one-time Republican county treasurer; former Sheriff David Madigan; former Coroner Eldon Quick; and former board member Steve Bantz.

Once other county officials learned of the cost of ECO, Champaign County withdrew from the program. But the county officials who had signed up remained in the program.

ECO drew renewed interest earlier this year when the Chicago Tribune reported that more than 500 county officials statewide have signed up for the program and that 17 of them are drawing pensions of more than $100,000 a year.

The county officials who have signed up for ECO — and there are about 750 officers in 62 counties — will be able to remain in it, but if and when the legislation becomes law, the program will sunset.

"This is a very good reform bill and I'd like to thank the sponsor," Sen. Dan Duffy, R-Lake Barrington, told his colleagues before the vote Thursday.

"I don't think you want to be putting a red (no vote) light on this bill," Frerichs said.

A number of other bills sponsored in the Senate by Frerichs also were approved Thursday, among them:

— HB 2066, sponsored in the House by Rep. Naomi Jakobsson, D-Urbana, that requires the state to compile a list of people receiving unemployment benefits and to send that list to local jury commissions assigned to finding potential jurors. The bill passed 54-0.

— HB 166 creates a higher-education green jobs and technology group, made up of public universities and community colleges, that will meet regularly to collaborate on green technology issues. It was approved in the Senate 55-0.

— HB 1485, sponsored in the House by Rep. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, directs state agencies to develop "cross-agency agreements" so that local agencies don't have to file different documents with each state agency that oversees them. The legislation, which was approved 57-0, should streamline processes and create efficiencies in state government, Frerichs said.