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“The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress.”
Joseph Joubert
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Both houses were and remain in caucus or in debate on the floor, considering various bills on their respective calendars. Committee work will begin in earnest once the deadline to pass bills from their house of origin. (March 8th). House bills
that passed will then be heard in Senate committees and vice versa.
Listed below are bills that have either moved or appear still ‘alive’. Remember that NTIB bills are always in the background and may come forward at any time. And, technically, any bill can be resurrected.
Retirement Related Proposals
As a repeat: Previous reports have covered the bills related to addressing the lack of a cost-of-living increase (COLA) for members in TRS/PERS Plans 1 and requesting a COLA for members of those plans. They are: ESHB 1057/SB 5350, HB 1201/ESSB 5294, and HB 1459.
There are four bills currently moving that deal with pensions: two sets/companions per chamber, and all four slightly differing.
SB 5350 would grant a one-time, capped 3% COLA for TRS1/PERS1 plan members. It also directs the Select Committee on Pension Policy (SCPP) to recommend
a path to regaining a permanent COLA for these retirees.
The Senate passed the bill 48/0, and it has been moved to House Appropriations.
ESSB 5294 was amended. The principal change was that, as originally proposed, it took the $800 Million last session budgeted to lower the unfunded liability
in TRS Plan 1. The amended bill leaves $250 Million toward the liability and transfers the rest to the General Fund. In short, it: Removes the underlying provisions of the bill. • Sets the existing
minimum UAAL rates to end after FY 2023. • Sets UAAL rates for FY 2024 through 2027. Establishes a new minimum UAAL rate of 0.5 percent that goes into effect in FY 2028. Â
The Senate passed the bill 48/0, and it has been moved to House Appropriations.
ESHB 1057 would grant a one-time, capped 3% COLA for TRS1/PERS1 plan members. It also directed the SCPP to recommend a path to regaining a permanent
COLA for these retirees. Unlike its companion, an adopted amendment froze current rates until 2027.
The bill passed the House 96/0 and will be moved to Senate Ways and Means.
HB 1201 Eliminates the minimum contribution rates for amortizing the unfunded liabilities in the Teachers’ Retirement System Plan 1 (TRS 1), beginning
August 31, 2024, and for the Public Employees’ Retirement System Plan 1 (PERS 1), beginning June 30, 2025. • Fixes the employer contribution rate for the unfunded liabilities in PERS 1 and TRS 1 at zero until 2029, excluding amounts to amortize
benefit improvements made after June 30, 2009. • Repeals the scheduled payment of $800 million into the TRS 1 fund scheduled for June 30, 2023.
This bill remains in Rules. *Note* Senate passed its companion.
Regarding costs:
Numerous fiscal notes are attached to each of these bills. The bottom line is that they all address the unfunded liability and the resulting surcharges that employers are currently paying to lower the UAAL.
A simple, generalized summary is that current surcharge rates (paid by employers only) are PERS 3.85%/ TRS1 6.46%. Effective in 2023: Under HB 1201 the rates go to 0% in 2026 for PERS and 0.71% for TRS 1 in 2025. Savings to the state’s General Fund
will be $427.7 million in 2023-2025. Obviously, savings will also go to employers such as school districts. The other bills also have various projections as to future rates. All lower the current surcharge rates. ESHB 1057 also includes language that
any benefit improvements (such as a COLA) will have no effect on rates until July 1, 2027.
HB 1007: Concerning interruptive military service credit for members of the state retirement systems.
Comment: Retirement credit can be awarded in any armed conflicts if the participant was awarded the respective campaign or expeditionary badge or medal…. the ‘expeditionary badge’ qualifier
was added.
HB 1007 passed the House 97/0 and has moved to the Senate Ways and Means.
HB 1008:Â Concerning participating in insurance plans and contracts by separated Plan 2 members of certain retirement systems.
Comment: This bill would simply make retiree insurance provisions uniform and equitable for Plan 2 and 3 members.
HB 1008 passed the House 93/0 and has been moved to Senate Ways and Means.
SHB 1056:Â Repealing some post-retirement employment restrictions.
Comment:Changes the post-retirement employment restrictions on benefits eligibility for Public Employees’ Retirement System, Teachers Retirement System, and School Employees Retirement System
Plans 2 and 3 members that retired under the 2008 Early Retirement Factors (ERFs). • Permits 2008 ERF members to work in the retirement system–covered employment for up to 867 hours per year without suspension of retirement benefits. •
Adjusts benefits for individuals that chose the 3 percent per year early retirement reduction to the level of reduction in the 2008 ERFs for future benefit payments. Effective 1/1/2024.
SHB 1056 passed the House 93/0 and has moved to Senate Ways and Means.
SSB 5121:Â Extending the expiration date of the joint select committee on health care oversight.
Comment: Extends the expiration date of the Joint Select Committee on Health Care Oversight from December 31, 2022, until December 31, 2026, and renames it the Joint Select Committee on Health Care and Behavioral Health Oversight.
Passed Senate 48/0. Executive Session before the House Health Care and Wellness Committee is scheduled 3/10.
SSB 5490: Concerning health care coverage for retired or disabled employees denied coverage for failure to timely notify the authority of their intent to defer coverage.
Comment: A retired or disabled employee who was eligible to defer coverage when they left employment, but failed to do so and later applied for retiree coverage and was denied solely for failure to notify HCA of their plan to defer coverage, and appealed
the denial of benefits by December 31, 2022, may enroll in retiree health care. A retired or disabled employee enrolling in benefits may only enroll in a fully-insured Medicare advantage or Medicare supplement plan. A retiree taking advantage of this
provision must apply by the end of the open enrollment period for the plan year beginning January 1, 2024.
This bill passed the Senate 48/0 and sent to House Health Care Committee.
