(The Center Square) – A Wisconsin bill that would allow retired police officers and firefighters to return to work while still collecting their retirement pensions is headed through Assembly committees.
There is a block currently on allowing those professionals from working more than two-thirds of full time or becoming a contract employee without suspending their retirement benefits. Bill sponsor Sen. Andre Jacque, R-New Franken, said the purpose Assembly Bill 36 is to fill a need for those public service positions.
Multiple committee members asked jailers to also be added to the list of employees who could return without a suspended pension.
“This bill is about common sense,” Jacque said in a statement. “We are facing unprecedented shortages in law enforcement, firefighting, and public sector instruction. AB 36 ensures that dedicated public servants who still want to serve their communities can do so—right here in Wisconsin—without being penalized for collecting the retirement benefits they’ve already earned.”
The bill repeats policies that were created due to employee shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic and the policy is supported by law enforcement groups including the Wisconsin Professional Police Association, Wisconsin Sheriffs and Deputy Sheriffs Association, Badger State Sheriffs’ Association, Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Fire Chiefs Association, Milwaukee Police Association and Wisconsin Towns Association.
A fiscal note on the bill said that it cannot estimate the taxpayer cost of the potential policy change, which passed the Assembly Committee on Workforce Development, Labor, and Integrated Employment and would need to pass the Assembly, Senate and be signed into law by Gov. Tony Evers before becoming law.
“Law enforcement officers, along with other retired state and local government workers, can already get another job after retirement anywhere without suspending their annuity, except with an employer that uses the state retirement system,” Jacque said. “For Wisconsin government employers, that effectively blocks our law enforcement and firefighters from even considering returning to work to again protect and serve in Wisconsin.”
The employees would not be eligible to earn a new pension if they come back to the workforce.
“Currently, nothing prevents an officer from retiring and getting a job at a place like Menard’s, in private security or elsewhere,” Jacque said. “But unfortunately, having to suspend their pension payments to take vital public safety positions in Wisconsin often sends these professionals across our state line.”
