Select Committee on Pension Policy

The Select Committee on Pension Policy last met on October 16, 2007. The agenda did not include items of a great deal of interest to cities. The committee considered whether to extend the opportunity to purchase out-of-state service credit to members of plans other than TRS 2 and 3. The committee received the report, but took no action.

The SCPP also received the Report of Combined Actuarial Valuation of Washington’s State Retirement Systems as of September 30, 2006. The report is prepared annually but only the odd year report is used to establish pension rates for the following biennium. The report did indicate assets exceed liabilities in the LEOFF I pension plan by 117%. AWC will use this information as we review means of providing cities resources to assist with LEOFF I retiree major medical and long-term-care costs. You may obtain a copy of the report by contacting the Washington State Actuary at actuary.state.@leg.wa.gov or http://osa.leg.wa.gov.

Family Leave Insurance Task Force Update

The Joint Legislative Task Force on Family Leave Insurance has now held three meetings but is no closer to determining a funding source for the new program, which will provide family leave insurance benefits to parents of newborn or newly-adopted children.

The next task force meeting is scheduled for November 14, and it appears a fifth meeting on December 13 will be needed for the task force to finalize its recommendations to the Legislature on how the program will be funded and which agency will administer it.

E2SSB 5659, passed this year, created the new insurance program to give new parents $250 a week for up to five weeks while they take time off from work, starting in October of 2009.

At their September and October meetings, the task force received reports from the Department of Labor and Industries and the Department of Employment Security, two of the agencies that could be tapped to administer the program. Both estimated significant start-up and operating costs, and there was concern about whether either agency could implement a fully-functional automated system by the October, 2009 effective date.

Some legislators on the task force were surprised at the high cost estimates for running the program. An early cost estimate for a computer system capable of processing the projected 25,000 claims and more than $30 million in benefit payments was $13.4 million.

For additional background information about the legislation and the task force, see the August 27 issue of Personnel News.

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