Retire/rehire bill heard in Senate

A House bill to authorize retired public employees to return to limited work without losing their PERS benefits was heard in the Senate Ways & Means Committee last week.

HB 1056 permits PERS 2 & 3 retirees that retired under the 2008 early retirement factors to return to public employment as an employee or contractor for up to 867 hours per year without losing retirement benefits, starting in 2024. It also increases the benefits for those PERS 2/3 retirees that took early retirement under the 2000 early retirement factors (which offered a lower pension but allowed retire/rehire) to make their benefit equal to those that retired under the 2008 factors in future years. Currently, a PERS 2/3 retiree that retired under the 2008 early retirement factors that returns to public employment would lose their retirement benefits unless they were over the age of 65. The bill was voted out of the House in early February with a unanimous vote.

AWC supports this bill because it will make it more attractive for some former employees to return to work for cities if they can work part-time and still receive their pensions. In the current labor market, cities need all the tools they can get to find a qualified workforce to meet their residents’ needs.