House committee hears competing plans to use LEOFF‑1 surplus; retirees and cities split

House Appropriations Committee members heard a staff briefing and more than a dozen public witnesses on two competing bills that would redirect surplus funds in the Law Enforcement Officers' and Firefighters' Retirement System Plan 1 (LEOFF‑1).

David Pringle, staff to the committee, told members House Bill 2,034 would use a legal process called a “restatement and termination” to create a smaller, restated LEOFF‑1 funded at about 120% and make excess assets available to the pension funding stabilization account and, potentially, the State General Fund. Pringle said the bill assumes the plan could be terminated on 06/30/2029 when the plan is projected to exceed 200% funded; the proposal would leave a restated plan sized for roughly 5,300 annuitants and make up to $3.3 billion available for transfer under current actuarial projections.

Pringle described Substitute Senate Bill 5,085 as an alternative that would merge LEOFF‑1 with PERS‑1 and TERS‑1 into a single “legacy retirement system,” combine surpluses and liabilities, and use the surplus both to eliminate certain unfunded‑liability contribution rates and to provide a 3% one‑time cost‑of‑living adjustment (COLA) effective 07/01/2025 and an ongoing COLA beginning 07/01/2026 that would match Plan II/III COLAs.

Why it matters: the two approaches redistribute the same LEOFF‑1 surplus differently. HB 2,034 preserves a separate LEOFF‑1 fund at a reduced funding target and delays…