CONTACT: Christine Welcher
Campaign Manager
608-279-2733
christine@bluejeansgov.com

Milwaukee, October 9, 2017 – Speaking at a meeting of the Wisconsin Alliance for Retired Americans, governor candidate Mike McCabe said Wisconsin’s entire population should be eligible to participate in the state’s retirement system.

“What government does needs to be done for our whole society, not just a few. The closer we can get to the point where everyone pays and everyone benefits from what government does, the better off we all will be,” McCabe said. “In keeping with its name, the Wisconsin Retirement System should offer retirement security to all of Wisconsin. Employees and employers in every sector of the economy should be able to buy into the WRS, not only the public sector.”

Currently, about 600,000 people are eligible to participate in the Wisconsin Retirement System, or only about one-eighth of the adult population of the state.

“Wisconsin has one of the most financially sound retirement systems in the country. Making participation an option for everyone in Wisconsin would make it even stronger,” McCabe said. “More people invested in the system means even greater financial stability. It also means more people with a stake in sustaining the retirement fund and defending it against political attacks. Social Security has lasted for more than 80 years because every working American pays for it and everyone stands to benefit.”

Employers in the private sector who want to provide a retirement benefit to employees should have the WRS as an option and so should those who are self-employed and want to set aside money for their own retirement, McCabe said. No one should be required to participate, but everyone should be eligible to buy into the system, he added.

Campaign website is GovernorBlueJeans.com.

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