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A bill meant to alleviate teacher shortages in Wisconsin schools comes with a proposal to raise the minimum retirement age for participants in the Wisconsin Retirement System by nearly five years, a pill that may be too hard to swallow for some public employees.

The bill by Sen. Duey Stroebel, R-Saukville, and Rep. Mary Felzkowski, R-Irma, would allow retired teachers or other former employees participating in the Wisconsin Retirement System to be rehired and work full-time for a WRS employer for up to three years and still collect their pension payments.

But the bill comes with a catch that its authors argue would account for the change and ensure the continued integrity of the Wisconsin Retirement System: Raising the minimum retirement age at which a participant may begin collecting benefits from 55 to 59½. The change would only affect employees under the age of 40 at the time the bill becomes law, and would also exclude protective service occupations, such as police officers and firefighters.

The Wisconsin Retirement System provides retirement, disability and death benefits to all state employees and most local government employees in Wisconsin.