AB 503

Under current law, some participating employees in the Wisconsin Retirement

System (WRS) receive differential wage payments from their employers while they

are on active duty in the uniformed services for any period of more than 30 days.

Currently, federal law requires that differential wage payments be treated as

covered earnings for fringe benefit purposes. This bill requires that under the WRS

differential wage payments must be treated as earnings for WRS purposes and that

individuals who receive differential wage payments must be treated as regular

employees for purposes of the WRS.

In addition, the bill provides that, for purposes of death or disability benefits,

a WRS participant who dies or becomes disabled while performing military service

is treated as though the person was a participating employee in the WRS. This new

provision of law applies retroactively to a participant who died or became disabled

on or after January 1, 2007.

Because this bill relates to public employee retirement or pensions, it may be

referred to the Joint Survey Committee on Retirement Systems for a report to be

printed as an appendix to the bill.