The University of Wisconsin Board of Regents would have the flexibility to allow new System employees the freedom to opt into a retirement plan outside the current Wisconsin Retirement System if a new proposal circulating in the Wisconsin Assembly is passed.
The proposal by Rep. Patricia Strachota, R-West Bend, would also allow more mobility for professors, Strachota’s spokesperson Trevor Ford said.
According to a statement released by Strachota, the lack of such a plan in Wisconsin puts the state at a competitive disadvantage when competing with other states to hire quality staff.
The statement said the plan would give the UW System the flexibility it needs to attract new professors who will allow the university to grow because every other Big Ten university has similar options.
“The proposal was created in response to a member on the Board of Regents requesting more flexibility,” Ford said. “The bill is not a mandate requiring the Board of Regents to create a new system. The bill just gives them the opportunity to explore the possibility.”
Still, Assembly Democrats are skeptical about the bill’s benefits and timing.
Kevin Benish, spokesperson for Rep. Tamara Grigsby, D-Milwaukee, said the proposal could be beneficial, but it could also be potentially disastrous.
“If the system works, don’t break it,” Benish said. “The WRS is considered the best retirement system in the U.S., with $80 billion in assets. This might be a good idea, but we are worried. For all we know this could be another Republican assault on Wisconsin.”
Benish said until the Assembly can get a better feeling of what voters and UW employees want, it is hard to take a firm stance. Benish said Grigsby will be watching the bill very closely.
UW System spokesperson David Giroux said he is also skeptical about the plan and said several key deciding factors are unknown.
“First, we know that a certain number of university employees are interested in having this optional plan sometime in the future,” Giroux said. “But, we have to understand the impact that this would have on the current WRS plan administered by Employee Trust Funds.”
Giroux said the UW System is still waiting on the analysis numbers from the ETF before taking a concrete stance.
Carol Lamp, Wisconsin Retired Educators’ Association president, also stressed the importance of waiting before the ETF study was released before supporting the legislation.
“We aren’t opposed to the idea,” Lamp said. “WREA feels strongly that Rep. Strachota should put a hold on this bill until the study is complete.”
The ETF study is scheduled for release by the end of June.
Lamp also said UW System employees were given an option similar to this in the recent past and voted it down.
