St. Paul, MN - Today, the Minnesota House of Representative passed Senate File 2957. The bill, authored in the House by Rep. Kristin Bahner (DFL - Maple Grove), would ensure the retirement annuities of healthcare workers who returned to the profession in response to the COVID-19 pandemic would continue. The legislation passed on a nearly unanimous vote of 130-1.
“Minnesota made it through some of the darkest days of the pandemic thanks in part to the healthcare retirees who returned to work when our state was overwhelmed,” said Rep. Bahner. “The least we can do for those who stepped up and put their experience to use is to ensure their well-earned retirement benefits continue to be available to them.”
The bill would require that a person who is receiving a retirement annuity and is employed by a public employer as a health care worker on or after March 13, 2020 must continue to receive the retirement annuity. This policy would expire on December 31, 2023.
The bill also provides additional time for Public Employee Retirement Association (PERA) employees from phased retirement plans, or who came out of retirement and stepped up to fill positions on the frontlines in hospitals and long-term care facilities, to continue to fill critical staffing shortages.
The legislation unanimously passed the Minnesota Senate last week. Video recording of today’s floor debate can be found on the House Public Information Youtube page.
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