Legislation
The LEOFF Plan 2 Retirement Board's Legislative Page provides an overview
of current and previous legislative actions related to LEOFF Plan 2. This page
also provides an overview of other legislation that may be of interest to LEOFF
Plan 2 members or beneficiaries.
2008 Legislative Session
Updated March 18, 2008
The 2008 Legislative Session began on January 14, 2008 and ended on March 13, 2008.
The LEOFF Plan 2 Board endorsed six bills during the 2008 legislative session.
For more information about a bill, you can click on the Bill Title to see a
summary. Once bill numbers have been assigned, you will be able to click
on the Bill Number to link to the Legislature's Bill Information page for additional
information.
Bills Endorsed by the LEOFF Plan 2 Retirement Board:
Other Bills of Interest:
House
Bill
Senate
Bill
Survivor L&I Benefits Medicare Only Health Insurance Benefits Port Fire Fighter Membership in LEOFF Occupational Disease Presumption for MRSA
- LEOFF Plan 2 Retirement Board Bill Summaries -
Alternate Revenue (HB 2962 - ESSB 6573) - PASSED
LEOFF Plan 2 has two sources of revenue to fund plan benefits; contributions and
investment earnings. Any benefit improvement must be paid for by an increase in
contributions by plan members, employers, and the State. Other public safety retirement
plans around the country have developed alternate revenue sources as a means of funding
improved plan benefits without raising contribution rates.
This bill provides additional shared revenues to LEOFF Plan 2 and local jurisdictions.
When the general state revenues increase by more than five percent, an amount up to
fifty million dollars biennially would be divided equally between LEOFF Plan 2 for future benefit
improvements and local jurisdictions for public safety purposes.
*Amendments in the House phase-in the revenue stream between 2011 - 2017, provides
the revenue on a biennial basis rather than annual, and requires a 5% increase in state
revenues before the revenue stream is triggered.
STATUS: ESSB 6573 was signed by the Governor on March 20, 2008.
Deferred Compensation as Salary (HB 3049 - SB 6635)
LEOFF Plan 2 members are commonly offered access to a deferred compensation
plan by their employer. Bargaining agreements in many jurisdictions provide for the
employer to make contributions to individual member accounts, either as a percentage
of pay or as a match to member contributions. Employer contributions to a member's
deferred compensation account are treated inconsistently with respect to whether they
are “basic salary” for purposes of calculating a member's pension.
This bill modifies the definition of basic salary to include employer contributions to
457 deferred compensation plans. In order to avoid adversely affecting the intent of
any current contracts, these changes would not take effect until July 1, 2012 to allow for
existing contracts to expire and new contracts to be negotiated under the new definition
of basic salary.
STATUS: Did not pass
Military Service Death Benefit (HB 3007 - SB 6646)
The state retirement systems do not make a distinction in the benefit calculation between
members who died while no longer working for a public employer for any reason and
members who died while fulfilling interruptive military service obligations. Survivors of plan
members who died while on leave of absence to serve in the military have their pension
benefits reduced as if the member went out on early retirement.
This bill developed jointly between the Select Committee on Pension Policy (SCPP) and
the LEOFF Plan 2 Retirement Board eliminates the reduction for the survivor of a member
who left the employ of a retirement system-covered employer due to service in the National
Guard or military reserves, and who die while honorably serving in a defined period of war.
STATUS: Did not pass
Interruptive Military Service Credit (HB 3008 - SSB 6645)
Plan members who temporarily leave their position to serve in the military can receive
lost service credit upon reemployment by paying the member contributions that they would
have paid if they had remained in their position.
This bill developed by the SCPP eliminates the member obligation to pay for interruptive
military service credit if the member served during a period of war. Employers will still be
required to pay the employer contributions on the service. In the case of a military death,
the survivor would also be relieved of paying the member cost for interruptive military
service credit.
STATUS: Did not pass
$150,000 Death Benefit Inflation Adjustment (HB 3026 - SB 6664)
The $150,000 death benefit is provided to all public employees who die in the line of
duty. Eligibility is determined by the Department of Labor and Industries. The benefit
has not increased since it was created in 1996.
This bill indexes the amount of the death benefit to cumulative changes in the Consumer
Price Index for Wage Earners and Clerical Workers for Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton,
with a maximum increase of 3% per year.
STATUS: Did not pass
Fish and Wildlife Service Credit Transfer (HB 3023 - SB 6653)
Enforcement Officers with the State Department of Fish & Wildlife became
members of LEOFF Plan 2 in 2003. Enforcement Officers were
previously members of the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS).
Enforcement Officers were not provided with an option in 2003 to transfer
any past PERS service to LEOFF Plan 2. All other groups of employees
whose membership was changed from PERS to LEOFF Plan 2 in the past,
such as port police and fire fighters, higher education police and fire fighters,
and emergency medical technicians were provided with an option to transfer
their past LEOFF Plan 2 eligible service from PERS to LEOFF Plan 2.
This bill, developed cooperatively with the Select Committee on Pension Policy,
would provide Enforcement Officers at the State Department of Fish &
Wildlife with the opportunity to transfer their past service as Enforcement
Officers from PERS Plan 2 to LEOFF Plan 2. Transferring members would
pay the difference between the contribution rate they paid in PERS Plan 2 and
the contribution rate they would have paid in LEOFF Plan 2, plus interest.
STATUS: Did not pass
- Other Bills of Interest -
Survivor L&I Benefits (HB 1545)
Surviving spouses of LEOFF Plan 2 members who are killed in the line of duty
are entitled to receive a monthly benefit of at least 60% of member's wages. This
benefit is paid for the lifetime of the survivor, or until remarriage.
This bill removes the remarriage restriction for survivors of LEOFF Plan 2 members.
For remarriages that occur after the effective date of the bill, the survivor benefits
will continue for life.
STATUS: Did not pass
Medicare Only Health Insurance Benefits (HB 2510 - SB 6446) - PASSED
Coverage obtained through a divided referendum process shall extend coverage
to law enforcement officers, firefighters, and employees of political subdivisions
of this state, who have membership in a qualified retirement system, allowing them to
obtain medicare coverage only (HI-only). In such a divided referendum process, thosemembers voting in favor of medicare coverage constitute a separate coverage group.
STATUS: HB 2510 was signed by the Governor on March 25, 2008.
Port Fire Fighter Membership in LEOFF Plan 2 (HB 2134)
This bill ensures LEOFF membership to any person who is a full-time employee of a port district,
whose duties include the suppression of fires, who is trained in rescue and fire fighting duties
prior to assuming fire suppression responsibilities, and who is required to receive annually
recurring instruction in rescue and fire fighting skills that includes live-fire drills; and Supervisory
fire fighter personnel of a port district who are trained in rescue and fire fighting duties, but are
not required to receive annually recurrent instruction in rescue and fire fighting skills.
STATUS: Did not pass
Occupational Disease Presumption for MRSA (HB 3331)
The prima facie presumption established under RCW 51.32.185 that certain infectious
diseases are occupational diseases is extended to cover any fire fighter who has contracted
methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
STATUS: Did not pass
Previous Legislative Sessions
Summary information about LEOFF Plan 2 Retirement Board related bills passed
or considered during previous legislative sessions is available at the following links:
During or between sessions, if you would like more information on one of the bills
listed on this site, you can visit the Washington State Legislature's Web site at
http://www.leg.wa.gov/, a public access service providing bill text and summaries,
initiatives, bill status, amendments, legislative calendars, committee schedules,
and other legislative information.
You may also find published fiscal notes at http://www.ofm.wa.gov/fns/.
You can voice your opinion on any bill by calling the Legislative Hotline at
1-800-562-6000 or by contacting your legislators. To find your legislators go to
http://www.leg.wa.gov/DistrictFinder/Default.aspx.
You can also watch or listen to hearings on the Internet at http://www.tvw.org.
You may also want to visit: