LEOFF Plan 2 board bill cleared legislature; staff watching wider pension measures

The Law Enforcement Officers' and Fire Fighters' Plan 2 Retirement Board was told April 16 that the board's sponsored measure, Senate Bill 5306, passed the legislature and is awaiting delivery to the governor for signature.

Jacob, a board staff member, said, "The board's bill, ended up being Senate Bill 5,306, sponsored by Senator Holy, passed the legislature, and is, now awaiting, delivery, to the governor's office for signature." He also briefed trustees on several other pension-related bills the board is monitoring.

Why it matters: Several bills moving this session could affect pension funding, benefit design or how local employers enroll workers in deferred compensation programs. Board staff said they are tracking those measures for any potential impact on LEOFF Plan 2 and will notify trustees if the board itself would be affected.

Details from staff briefings

- House Bill 1270: A Department of Retirement Systems (DRS)–endorsed bill that would allow local employers to use an auto-enroll feature for the state's deferred compensation program passed the legislature and, according to staff, is being sent to the governor for signature.

- House Bill 2034 and Senate Bill 5085: Staff characterized these as bills related to Plan 1 (termination or merger of some Plan 1 systems and related COLA changes). Both remained active at the time of the briefing; HB 2034 had passed out of House Appropriations but had not had a floor vote, while SB 5085 had passed the Senate and had a hearing in House Appropriations but had not moved out of that committee.

- Senate Bill 5357: A measure addressing actuarial funding of public pension systems by changing the assumed rate of return from 7.00% to 7.25%. Jacob said the change would lower contribution rates in affected plans and that staff had been monitoring amendments to ensure LEOFF Plan 2 was not added to the bill. Staff reported the bill had passed out of the House and had been amended in Senate Ways & Means but had not yet been pulled to the Senate floor.

Public comment and interim planning

The board received written comments from Curtis Wright about proposed changes to labor-and-industries law concerning post-traumatic stress disorder. Steve, a senior staff member, told trustees the correspondence would be added to the list of issues for the board to consider during the upcoming interim work-plan development.

What trustees were told next

Staff said it would continue to monitor amendments and floor activity and would alert trustees if any of the measures were amended to include LEOFF Plan 2 or otherwise create a direct obligation for the board.

Provenance

The legislative update began with Jacob's report at the start of the session's legislative update segment and ended with staff noting they would continue to watch for amendments that might include LEOFF Plan 2.