By Dustin Beilke

When WEAC phone-banked WEAC-Retired members February 12-14, we told every member we spoke to about the part of the budget repair bill that calls for a "study" of the Wisconsin Retirement System and the whole notion of having a defined benefit pension for public employees. There has been much speculation about Governor Walker's intentions for retirees and the retirement system in blogs and letters to the editor, and an article in yesterday's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel brings this issue into the mainstream media.

The article mentions that many states have moved to or are trying to move to defined contribution plans, or 401(k)s. It also mentions that getting unions out of the way, as Walker is trying to do, is often considered a necessary precedent.

Meanwhile, the Wisconsin Department of Employee Trust Funds is fielding 6,000 calls a day from Wisconsin's worried retirees and future retirees.

Walker and the Legislature would have to change state law in order to alter the retirement system in this way, and no such law change is proposed in the budget repair bill or the budget bill itself.

Every retiree needs to ask Walker and the members of the Legislature what their plan is. If you haven't already done this, the WEAC Take Action page can help you do it.

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