Committee hears bill to ease return-to-work rules for recently retired teachers

Senator Dan Linowski, sponsor of LB 689, told the Nebraska Legislature’s Retirement Systems Committee that the bill would remove the current statutory 8-days-per-month limitation on substitute teaching by recently retired members of the school employees retirement plan and — in his amendment AM 7 34 — replace it with a cap of 40 days of intermittent service during a semester while the retiree remains inside the 180-day separation period.

Why it matters: Committee members and witnesses said the change aims to ease substitute shortages, especially in rural districts, but representatives of the Nebraska Public Employees Retirement Systems (NPERS) and other opponents said removing the bright-line rule risks the tax-qualified status of the retirement plan under Internal Revenue Service (IRS) rules and would increase administrative burdens.

Senator Dan Linowski, the bill’s introducer, said the amendment “limits retired teachers who participate in the state employee retirement plan to provide no more than 40 days of intermittent service or substitute teaching during that semester while inside of their hundred and 80 day separation period.” He said the goal is to let qualified recent retirees fill longer substitute…