Retirement & Health Benefits – March 7, 2025

“I debate because I am unapologetically opinionated.”

Anonymous

“Debate” (noun); Like wrestling, but with words.

As the floor action deadline approaches, both chambers are debating and passing legislation to forward to the opposite house. Small bills, big bills are all part of the mix. The biggest bill, the budget, remains a secret. And as an aside, there will be at least four projections on state spending; Governor Inslee’s, Gov. Ferguson’s, the House and the Senate. The Governors’ budgets include various cuts and fund shifts. The House and Senate have not indicated their intentions.

A brief summary of selected bills and/or issues still in play is below.

(The usual caveat is that no bill is dead until the last day of session, and any bill deemed ‘necessary to implement the budget’ (NTIB) remains alive until the end.) As mentioned below, some NTIB may be revived in order to create an acceptable budget. Stay tuned.

1. SSB 5085: Seeks to establish a Legacy Retirement System. The bill merges the assets, liabilities, and membership of Law Enforcement Officers’ and Firefighters’ Retirement System Plan 1, Public Employees’ Retirement System Plan 1 (PERS Plan 1), and the Teachers’ Retirement System Plan 1 (TRS Plan 1) retirement systems into the new Legacy Retirement System. Pension Contribution Rates. Beginning July 1, 2025, the UAAL rates and the supplemental benefit enhancement rate are eliminated. The bill passed the Senate 28/21 and has been moved to House Appropriations.
2. SB 5113/HB 1292: creates an annual increase in the retirement benefits of retirees in the Public Employees’ Retirement System and the Teachers’ Retirement System Plan 1, of up to 3 percent. Both of these bills are currently stalled but could be deemed NTIB. To repeat, an optimist would say that SB 5085 will be the vehicle for addressing the need for a COLA in Plans 1.
3. SSB 5357/HB 1467 had been introduced. That bills reset rates for past benefit enhancements and amortizes the cost over a 15-year period (instead of the current 10-year period). SB 5357 has been moved to Rules. HB 1467 remained in House Appropriations. Either bill may be deemed NTIB.
4. HB 5478: Concerning benefits authorized to be offered by the public employees’ benefits board. This bill would allow HCA to the following employee-paid, voluntary benefit plans: 39 (a) Emergency transportation; (b) Identity protection © Legal aid; (d) Long-term care insurance; (e) Noncommercial personal automobile insurance; (f) Personal homeowner’s or renter’s insurance; (g) Pet insurance; (h) Specified disease or illness-triggered fixed payment insurance, hospital confinement fixed payment insurance, (i) Travel insurance. It passed the Senate 48/0/1 and has been referred to House Appropriations.
5. SSB 5738/ HB 1988: Permitting individuals retired from the public employees’ retirement system, the teachers’ retirement system, and the school employees’ retirement system additional opportunities to work for up to 1,040 hours per year while in receipt of pension benefits. This bill is similar to HB 1936 below except it sunsets in 2030. It has been moved to Rules. Note: HB 1936 passed the House chamber. Which bill will cross the finish line?
6. HB 1474: Providing a benefit increase to certain retirees of the public employees’ retirement system plan 1 and the teachers’ retirement system plan. This bill provides a one-time 3 percent increase to the retirement benefits of retirees in the Public Employees’ Retirement System and the Teachers’ Retirement System Plan 1, up to $110 per month. This bill is in Rules. It is a bill that WSSRA and its members view as a fallback option should SSB 5085 (above) not be successful in the House. Likely NTIB.
7. HB 1936: Extending the expiration of certain school employee postretirement employment restrictions to 2027. The bill reads: Between March 23, 2022, and July 1, ((2025)) 2027, a retiree that retired before January 1, 2022, and who enters service in a second-class school district, as defined in RCW 28A.300.065, as either a district superintendent or an in-school administrator shall continue to receive pension payments while engaged in such service, until the retiree has rendered service for more than 1,040 hours in a calendar year. The bill passed the House 97/0/1 and is likely to be assigned to Senate Ways and Means

A selected intro to some bills that could have fiscal impact /costs to districts:

SSHB 1213: Expanding protections for workers in the state paid family and medical leave program.

This second substitute House bill: Extends employment protection rights in the Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) Program to any employee who began employment with their current employer at least 180 calendar days before taking leave, regardless of the size of the employer.

• Allows employers to prevent stacking certain employment protection rights by extending employment protection in the PFML Program to periods of unpaid leave protected by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, so long as the employer provides certain notices to the employee, and providing that employment protection expires after certain periods.
• Requires employers to provide notice to employees estimating the expiration of employment protection under the Paid Family and Medical Leave Act (PFMLA) after 14 typical workdays of intermittent leave, rather than 14 typical work weeks of intermittent leave. Expands health care coverage protection during any period in which an employee receives PFML Program benefits and is also entitled to employment protection.
• Expands access to grants for small employers to offset the costs of employees’ use of leave in the PFML Program.

SSHB 1213 has been moved to Rules. Costs to state/employers from fiscal note are still indeterminate.

HB 1334: Modifying the annual regular property tax revenue growth limit. This bill changes the 101 percent revenue growth limit for state and local property taxes to 100 percent plus population change and inflation, with a capped limit of 103 percent.

Should counties/cities be allowed to increase their taxes from .02% to .03%, this could affect M & O levy success/asks. This bill had a public hearing on 2/11 before House Finance. (NTIB)

SSB 5041: Concerning unemployment insurance benefits for striking or lockout workers.

This substitute bill: Allows individuals unemployed due to a labor strike to receive unemployment insurance (UI) benefits following a specified disqualification period and the waiting week, provided that the labor strike is not found to be prohibited by federal or state law in a final judgment.

• Removes the provision disqualifying an individual for UI benefits based on an employer-initiated lockout resulting from a strike against another employer in a multi-employer bargaining unit.

It is in Rules awaiting action. WASA and WSSDA have submitted letters in opposition to this bill. The SEATTLE TIMES has also written an editorial in opposition to this bill. Yet, the unions are a powerful political force, so this bill will remain alive.

SSB 5101: Expanding access to leave and safety accommodations to include workers who are victims of hate crimes or bias incidents.

This bill expands access to leave and safety accommodations available to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, to include victims of hate crime.

This bill passed the Senate 40/8/1 and has been sent to House Labor.

SSB 5179: Establishing a complaint process to address willful noncompliance with certain state education laws.

This bill directs the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) to establish a process to investigate and address complaints alleg