Legislative Update
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COMPAS – 2004 session - final leg review Prepared by: Ron main & michael transue |
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News From Olympia – COMPAS Update Sgt. Mike Edwards The next legislative session is almost upon us, as such COMPAS is looking towards what issue should be addressed this upcoming session. One issue of interest is the personal privacy matter that was previously passed but struck down by a federal court judge. Preliminary information from an outside attorney that reviewed the prior bill language indicates that a rewrite of that language would successfully withstand federal court challenge. This remains a high-priority issue for COMPAS and the matter is currently under review by legal counsel. We hope to have a definitive answer so that the matter can be revisited during the upcoming session. In addition to this specific issue COMPAS is asking the member organizations to identify issues that they have an interest in. If there is something that you would like COMPAS to review for possible action I encourage you to contact a member of the SPOG Executive Board and raise it with them. They in turn can bring the matter to the attention of COMPAS. The LEOFF II Pension Board continues to meet and address issues in a proactive as well as reactive way. Recently it was requested that the Board take up an issue involving King County Paramedic personnel that fall outside of the LEOFF Retirement system. These individuals are not firefighters and work in jurisdictions throughout the county including cities like Federal Way. There are approximately 60 individuals that fall into this category and they desire inclusion into the LEOFF Retirement system. I won’t bore you with all of the details, the minutes are available for review on the Boards web site. Ultimately it was determined that the Board did not have the statutory authority to address this matter. The initiative was clear in giving the Board authority over the LEOFF Retirement system only. The paramedics are currently under a separate state retirement system and therefore fall under the authority of the Select Committee on Pension Policy. They were directed to seek assistance with that group. This was an important issue because it is anticipated that individuals and groups will likely seek the support of the Board for legislative issues. If those issues do not fall under the authority of the Board as it affects the LEOFF II Retirement plan then the Board should not become involved. This does not mean that if asked to render an opinion the Board must remain silent. On the contrary the Board has a duty if the matter impacts or otherwise affects the LEOFF II Retirement plan to speak out on those impacts or affects. Speaking of the web site, if you have not visited the site I encourage you to do so. You will have the opportunity to gain some basic knowledge about the construction of the Board, who sits on the Board, what legislative action the Board has taken to date, review the actual legislation, review minutes of the Board meetings, see the upcoming dates for public hearings and more. The site is located at www.leoff.wa.gov and is a very user-friendly site. Staff welcomes your comments and suggestions and you should know that the site will be refined and improved on an ongoing basis. Another site that I encourage you to visit if you haven’t yet is the Department of Retirement Systems site. Specifically the link that allows you Online Access to Your Defined Benefit Account. The main site is located at www.drs.wa.gov and there is a lot of useful information on this site. The logon address for your benefits page is at www.drs.wa.gov/dbaccess and you can register there if you haven’t already. You should know what your overall pension benefits are and you need to know what your specific benefits are. This site will give you the ability to track your benefits on an ongoing basis. This site will also be available to the following: active, retired, inactive, those who previously withdrew their contributions, survivors and those individuals that receive some fund benefit due to a court order (i.e. divorce). The Board is also looking at publishing a newsletter with an attached survey. Although no decision has been made yet as to the content of the newsletter or the survey, hopefully a decision will begin to be formed by the December meeting as to the content of each. The survey will likely be the first step in an ongoing process to ultimately gauge member interest in the benefit construction of the plan. At this point the member organization that represent the individual stakeholders (i.e. SPOG, KCPOG, PSPOA, etc.) remain the best source for voicing your interest. COMPAS is encouraging each organization to prepare and distribute its own survey to address this issue. A major portion of the process will be to identify the cost structure not only for the existing benefits but also to any potential future benefits. This is something that has not been done and will ultimately drive the decision as to what improvements can be made to the plan and when those improvements could occur. The Board has not taken this issue up at this time but it is something that falls within the authority of the Board. The contribution rate schedule has been reviewed and a decision will likely be made at the December Board meeting as to the process the Board will use to implement the rate schedule. Currently the recommendation by the Office of the State Actuary is a four-year phase in with the largest increase set to occur in years 2007 & 2008. The member rate is currently 5.09% with the Employer at 3.06% and the State at 2.03% for a total of 10.18%. This is the rate that was adopted by the Legislature for the 2003 – 2005 Biennium. The recommendation by the Office of the State Actuary raises the rates so that by the 2008 – 2009 Biennium the rates would be 8.49% for the Member, 5.09% for the Employer and 3.39% for the State for a total of 16.97%. There are requirements for periodic review of the rates and there is the ability for the Board to amend the rates as necessary for plan stability. Other issues that the Board has looked at or is currently reviewing include the following topics: Post Retirement Employment, Interruptive Military Service Credit, LEOFF Plan 2 Service Credit/Annuity Purchase Options among others. Again, I direct you to the web site for more complete information on what the Board has done and is doing. You can access the minutes of the prior meetings and the agendas. If you still have questions contact an elected Guild Board member to seek out an answer. Thank you, take care and be safe out there. |