JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – The Mississippi Public Employees’ Retirement Board is considering changes to help the retirement system during the next Legislative session.

There are more than 300,000 members in the Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS) in Mississippi. State leaders are looking for ways to take strain off of the system.

“PERS is a complex issue with a lot of moving parts. But right now, the most important thing is additional funding,” said Ray Higgins, executive director of PERS.

The PERS Board is looking at changes to Mississippi’s “Return to Work” rules. The current system restricts how long retired employees can work.

“One of the things I’ve heard over the past few months is that we have retired state employees who have retired at a young age who still want to work,” said State Sen. Daniel Sparks (R-District 5).

Sparks said people may need to keep working to support their family or help pay for health insurance.

“They have expertise, they have a maturity, they are seasoned employees. And we’d like to find a cleaner way for them to come back into the work system, because they would add a lot to the services provided by the state. Plus, it’s an income for them,” he said.

State leaders said if a retiree comes back to work for the state, this could be a beneficial for the PERS system. However, that would require lawmakers passing new legislation to address the shortages.

“We want to make sure we comply with IRS requirements, and we have to consider the cost implications. So as PERS, we’ll just be monitoring the legislation this session, and reviewing it in the best interest of the system,” said Higgins.

Cost was the main focus for state leaders during their discussion, but so are concerns in the first responder community about the system’s new “Tier 5,” which lawmakers passed during the last Legislative session. Benefits for public employees under tiers one through four will not change.

Beginning March 1, 2026, new public employees will have to work 35 years to draw full retirement at any age or work until 62.

“I support them and appreciate their service personally and professionally, as it relates to new benefit changes for them. It can certainly be done. It just would require a change in state law, and we have to consider the cost components,” said Higgins.