911 - 1055.PLCERTIFICATION OF ENROLLMENT
HOUSE BILL 1055
68th Legislature
2023 Regular Session
Passed by the House March 6, 2023
Yeas 96 Nays 0
Speaker of the House of
Representatives
Passed by the Senate April 12, 2023
Yeas 48 Nays 1
President of the Senate
CERTIFICATE
I, Bernard Dean, Chief Clerk of the
House of Representatives of the
State of Washington, do hereby
certify that the attached is HOUSE
BILL 1055 as passed by the House of
Representatives and the Senate on
the dates hereon set forth.
Chief Clerk
Approved FILED
Governor of the State of Washington
Secretary of State
State of Washington
AN ACT Relating to public safety employees' retirement plan 1
membership for public safety telecommunicators; amending RCW 2
41.37.005 and 41.37.010; adding a new section to chapter 41.37 RCW; 3
creating a new section; and providing an effective date.4
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:5
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The legislature recognizes that the 6
entities that employ public safety telecommunicators can be set up at 7
many levels, including state, federal, and nonprofit.8
(2) The legislature intends this act to apply only to:9
(a) Newly-hired public safety telecommunicators who would 10
otherwise be eligible for the public employees' retirement system 11
plan 2 or plan 3 if not for this act; and12
(b) Existing public safety telecommunicators who are currently 13
participating in the public employees' retirement system plan 2 or 14
plan 3.15
(3) This act is not intended to confer retirement system 16
membership or benefits to any employees who are not already eligible 17
for state retirement benefits, such as contract employees, nonprofit 18
employees, and employees of first-class cities.19
HOUSE BILL 1055
Passed Legislature - 2023 Regular Session
State of Washington 68th Legislature 2023 Regular Session
By Representatives Stokesbary, Ormsby, Leavitt, Simmons, Goodman,
Lekanoff, Rule, Robertson, Bronoske, Bergquist, and Davis; by request
of Select Committee on Pension Policy
Prefiled 12/20/22. Read first time 01/09/23. Referred to Committee
on Appropriations.
p. 1 HB 1055.PL
Sec. 2. RCW 41.37.005 and 2006 c 309 s 1 are each amended to 1
read as follows:2
It is the intent of the legislature to establish a separate 3
public safety employees' retirement system for certain public 4
employees whose jobs contain a high degree of physical or 5
psychological risk to their own personal safety and who provide 6
public protection of lives and property, but who are not eligible for 7
membership in the law enforcement officers' and firefighters' 8
retirement system.9
Sec. 3. RCW 41.37.010 and 2021 c 12 s 6 are each amended to read 10
as follows:11
The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter 12
unless the context clearly requires otherwise.13
(1) "Accumulated contributions" means the sum of all 14
contributions standing to the credit of a member in the member's 15
individual account, including any amount paid under RCW 41.50.165(2), 16
together with the regular interest thereon.17
(2) "Actuarial equivalent" means a benefit of equal value when 18
computed upon the basis of such mortality and other tables as may be 19
adopted by the director.20
(3) "Adjustment ratio" means the value of index A divided by 21
index B.22
(4) "Annuity" means payments for life derived from accumulated 23
contributions of a member. All annuities shall be paid in monthly 24
installments.25
(5)(a) "Average final compensation" means the member's average 26
compensation earnable of the highest consecutive sixty months of 27
service credit months prior to such member's retirement, termination, 28
or death. Periods constituting authorized leaves of absence may not 29
be used in the calculation of average final compensation except under 30
RCW 41.37.290.31
(b) In calculating average final compensation under (a) of this 32
subsection, the department of retirement systems shall include:33
(i) Any compensation forgone by a member employed by a state 34
agency or institution during the 2009-2011 fiscal biennium as a 35
result of reduced work hours, mandatory or voluntary leave without 36
pay, temporary reduction in pay implemented prior to December 11, 37
2010, or temporary layoffs if the reduced compensation is an integral 38
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part of the employer's expenditure reduction efforts, as certified by 1
the employer;2
(ii) Any compensation forgone by a member employed by the state 3
or a local government employer during the 2011-2013 fiscal biennium 4
as a result of reduced work hours, mandatory leave without pay, 5
temporary layoffs, or reductions to current pay if the reduced 6
compensation is an integral part of the employer's expenditure 7
reduction efforts, as certified by the employer. Reductions to 8
current pay shall not include elimination of previously agreed upon 9
future salary increases; and10
(iii) Any compensation forgone by a member during the 2019-2021 11
and 2021-2023 fiscal biennia as a result of reduced work hours, 12
mandatory leave without pay, temporary layoffs, furloughs, reductions 13
to current pay, or other similar measures resulting from the COVID-19 14
budgetary crisis, if the reduced compensation is an integral part of 15
the employer's expenditure reduction efforts, as certified by the 16
employer. Reductions to current pay shall not include elimination of 17
previously agreed upon future salary increases.18
(6) "Beneficiary" means any person in receipt of a retirement 19
allowance or other benefit provided by this chapter resulting from 20
service rendered to an employer by another person.21
(7)(a) "Compensation earnable" for members, means salaries or 22
wages earned by a member during a payroll period for personal 23
services, including overtime payments, and shall include wages and 24
salaries deferred under provisions established pursuant to sections 25
403(b), 414(h), and 457 of the United States internal revenue code, 26
but shall exclude nonmoney maintenance compensation and lump sum or 27
other payments for deferred annual sick leave, unused accumulated 28
vacation, unused accumulated annual leave, or any form of severance 29
pay.30
(b) "Compensation earnable" for members also includes the 31
following actual or imputed payments, which are not paid for personal 32
services:33
(i) Retroactive payments to an individual by an employer on 34
reinstatement of the employee in a position, or payments by an 35
employer to an individual in lieu of reinstatement, which are awarded 36
or granted as the equivalent of the salary or wage which the 37
individual would have earned during a payroll period shall be 38
considered compensation earnable to the extent provided in this 39
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subsection, and the individual shall receive the equivalent service 1
credit;2
(ii) In any year in which a member serves in the legislature, the 3
member shall have the option of having such member's compensation 4
earnable be the greater of:5
(A) The compensation earnable the member would have received had 6
such member not served in the legislature; or7
(B) Such member's actual compensation earnable received for 8
nonlegislative public employment and legislative service combined. 9
Any additional contributions to the retirement system required 10
because compensation earnable under (b)(ii)(A) of this subsection is 11
greater than compensation earnable under (b)(ii)(B) of this 12
subsection shall be paid by the member for both member and employer 13
contributions;14
(iii) Assault pay only as authorized by RCW 27.04.100, 72.01.045, 15
and 72.09.240;16
(iv) Compensation that a member would have received but for a 17
disability occurring in the line of duty only as authorized by RCW 18
41.37.060;19
(v) Compensation that a member receives due to participation in 20
the leave sharing program only as authorized by RCW 41.04.650 through 21
41.04.670; and22
(vi) Compensation that a member receives for being in standby 23
status. For the purposes of this section, a member is in standby 24
status when not being paid for time actually worked and the employer 25
requires the member to be prepared to report immediately for work, if 26
the need arises, although the need may not arise.27
(8) "Department" means the department of retirement systems 28
created in chapter 41.50 RCW.29
(9) "Director" means the director of the department.30
(10) "Eligible position" means any permanent, full-time position 31
included in subsection (19) of this section.32
(11) "Employee" or "employed" means a person who is providing 33
services for compensation to an employer, unless the person is free 34
from the employer's direction and control over the performance of 35
work. The department shall adopt rules and interpret this subsection 36
consistent with common law.37
(12)(a) "Employer" means ((the)):38
(i) The Washington state department of corrections((, the));39
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(ii) The Washington state parks and recreation commission((, 1
the));2
(iii) The Washington state gambling commission((, the));3
(iv) The Washington state patrol((, the));4
(v) The Washington state department of natural resources((, 5
the));6
(vi) The Washington state liquor and cannabis board((, the));7
(vii) The Washington state department of veterans affairs((, 8
the));9
(viii) The Washington state department of children, youth, and 10
families((, and the));11
(ix) The Washington state department of social and health 12
services((; any));13
(x) Any county corrections department((; any));14
(xi) Any city corrections department not covered under chapter 15
41.28 RCW((; and any));16
(xii) Any public corrections entity created under RCW 39.34.030 17
by counties, cities not covered under chapter 41.28 RCW, or both; and18
(xiii) Any employer participating in the public employees' 19
retirement system in chapter 41.40 RCW, some or all of whose 20
employees' primary responsibility is to receive, process, transmit, 21
or dispatch 911 emergency and nonemergency calls for law enforcement, 22
fire, emergency medical, or other public safety services that is not 23
already covered by the provisions of this subsection.24
(b) Except as otherwise specifically provided in this chapter, 25
"employer" does not include a government contractor. For purposes of 26
this subsection, a "government contractor" is any entity, including a 27
partnership, limited liability company, for-profit or nonprofit 28
corporation, or person, that provides services pursuant to a contract 29
with an employer. The determination whether an employer-employee 30
relationship has been established is not based on the relationship 31
between a government contractor and an employer, but is based solely 32
on the relationship between a government contractor's employee and an 33
employer under this chapter.34
(13) "Final compensation" means the annual rate of compensation 35
earnable by a member at the time of termination of employment.36
(14) "Index" means, for any calendar year, that year's annual 37
average consumer price index, Seattle, Washington area, for urban 38
wage earners and clerical workers, all items, compiled by the bureau 39
of labor statistics, United States department of labor.40
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(15) "Index A" means the index for the year prior to the 1
determination of a postretirement adjustment.2
(16) "Index B" means the index for the year prior to index A.3
(17) "Ineligible position" means any position which does not 4
conform with the requirements set forth in subsection (10) of this 5
section.6
(18) "Leave of absence" means the period of time a member is 7
authorized by the employer to be absent from service without being 8
separated from membership.9
(19) "Member" means any employee employed by an employer on a 10
full-time basis:11
(a) Who is in a position that requires completion of a certified 12
criminal justice training course and is authorized by their employer 13
to arrest, conduct criminal investigations, enforce the criminal laws 14
of the state of Washington, and carry a firearm as part of the job;15
(b) Whose primary responsibility is to ensure the custody and 16
security of incarcerated or probationary individuals as a corrections 17
officer, probation officer, or jailer;18
(c) Who is a limited authority Washington peace officer, as 19
defined in RCW 10.93.020, for an employer;20
(d) Whose primary responsibility is to provide nursing care to, 21
or to ensure the custody and safety of, offender, adult probationary, 22
or patient populations; and who is in a position that requires 23
completion of defensive tactics training or de-escalation training; 24
and who is employed by one of the following state institutions or 25
centers operated by the department of social and health services or 26
the department of children, youth, and families:27
(i) Juvenile rehabilitation administration institutions, not 28
including community facilities;29
(ii) Mental health hospitals;30
(iii) Child study and treatment centers; or31
(iv) Institutions or residential sites that serve developmentally 32
disabled patients or offenders, or perform competency restoration 33
services, except for state-operated living alternatives facilities;34
(e) Whose primary responsibility is to provide nursing care to 35
offender and patient populations in institutions and centers operated 36
by the following employers: A city or county corrections department 37
as set forth in subsection (12) of this section, a public corrections 38
entity as set forth in subsection (12) of this section, the 39
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Washington state department of corrections, or the Washington state 1
department of veterans affairs; ((or))2
(f) Whose primary responsibility is to receive, process, 3
transmit, or dispatch 911 emergency and nonemergency calls for law 4
enforcement, fire, emergency medical, or other public safety 5
services, or to supervise those employees; or6
(g) Whose primary responsibility is to supervise members eligible 7
under this subsection.8
(20) "Membership service" means all service rendered as a member.9
(21) "Pension" means payments for life derived from contributions 10
made by the employer. All pensions shall be paid in monthly 11
installments.12
(22) "Plan" means the Washington public safety employees' 13
retirement system plan 2.14
(23) "Regular interest" means such rate as the director may 15
determine.16
(24) "Retiree" means any person who has begun accruing a 17
retirement allowance or other benefit provided by this chapter 18
resulting from service rendered to an employer while a member.19
(25) "Retirement" means withdrawal from active service with a 20
retirement allowance as provided by this chapter.21
(26) "Retirement allowance" means monthly payments to a retiree 22
or beneficiary as provided in this chapter.23
(27) "Retirement system" means the Washington public safety 24
employees' retirement system provided for in this chapter.25
(28) "Separation from service" occurs when a person has 26
terminated all employment with an employer.27
(29) "Service" means periods of employment by a member on or 28
after July 1, 2006, for one or more employers for which compensation 29
earnable is paid. Compensation earnable earned for ninety or more 30
hours in any calendar month shall constitute one service credit 31
month. Compensation earnable earned for at least seventy hours but 32
less than ninety hours in any calendar month shall constitute one-33
half service credit month of service. Compensation earnable earned 34
for less than seventy hours in any calendar month shall constitute 35
one-quarter service credit month of service. Time spent in standby 36
status, whether compensated or not, is not service.37
Any fraction of a year of service shall be taken into account in 38
the computation of such retirement allowance or benefits.39
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(a) Service in any state elective position shall be deemed to be 1
full-time service.2
(b) A member shall receive a total of not more than twelve 3
service credit months of service for such calendar year. If an 4
individual is employed in an eligible position by one or more 5
employers the individual shall receive no more than one service 6
credit month during any calendar month in which multiple service for 7
ninety or more hours is rendered.8
(c) Reduction efforts such as furloughs, reduced work hours, 9
mandatory leave without pay, temporary layoffs, or other similar 10
situations as contemplated by subsection (5)(b)(iii) of this section 11
do not result in a reduction in service credit that otherwise would 12
have been earned for that month of work, and the member shall receive 13
the full service credit for the hours that were scheduled to be 14
worked before the reduction.15
(30) "Service credit month" means a month or an accumulation of 16
months of service credit which is equal to one.17
(31) "Service credit year" means an accumulation of months of 18
service credit which is equal to one when divided by twelve.19
(32) "State actuary" or "actuary" means the person appointed 20
pursuant to RCW 44.44.010(2).21
(33) "State elective position" means any position held by any 22
person elected or appointed to statewide office or elected or 23
appointed as a member of the legislature.24
(34) "State treasurer" means the treasurer of the state of 25
Washington.26
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. A new section is added to chapter 41.37 27
RCW to read as follows:28
(1) An employee of an employer as defined in RCW 41.37.010 who 29
was a member of the public employees' retirement system plan 2 or 30
plan 3 before June 1, 2024, and on June 1, 2024, meets the 31
eligibility requirements as set forth in RCW 41.37.010(19)(f) has the 32
following options during the election period defined in subsection 33
(2) of this section:34
(a) To remain in the public employees' retirement system in their 35
current plan; or36
(b) To become a member of the public safety employees' retirement 37
system plan 2 and be a dual member as provided in chapter 41.54 RCW. 38
Any service credit the employee accrued in the public employees' 39
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retirement system service credit may not be transferred to the public 1
safety employees' retirement system.2
(2) The "election period" is the period between January 1, 2024, 3
and March 1, 2024.4
(3) During the election period, employees who are employed by an 5
employer as defined in RCW 41.37.010 remain members of the public 6
employees' retirement system plan 2 or plan 3 until they 7
affirmatively elect to join the public safety employees' retirement 8
system. Members who elect to join the public safety employees' 9
retirement system as described in this section will have their 10
membership begin prospectively from the date of their election.11
(4) If, after September 1, 2024, the member has not made an 12
election to join the public safety employees' retirement system, he 13
or she will remain in his or her current plan in the public 14
employees' retirement system.15
(5) An employee who was a member of the public employees' 16
retirement system plan 1 on or before June 1, 2019, and on or after 17
June 1, 2024, is employed by an employer as defined in RCW 41.37.010 18
as an employee who meets the eligibility requirements included in RCW 19
41.37.010(19)(f), shall remain a member of the public employees' 20
retirement system plan 1.21
(6) All new employees hired on or after June 1, 2024, who become 22
employed by an employer as defined in RCW 41.37.010 as an employee 23
who meets the eligibility requirements included in RCW 24
41.37.010(19)(f) will become members of the public safety employees' 25
retirement system.26
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. This act takes effect June 1, 2024.27
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