Several commissions and agency advisory groups of interest recently met in July. Here are notes on what those groups discussed.

Long-term Services and Supports (WA Cares Fund) Trust Commission

The LTSS Trust Commission met on July 24 for a regular meeting, which was recorded on TVW.

The meeting included a short update from the WA Cares Fund about the launch of premiums collection at the beginning of July. So far, around 33,000 people have applied for exemptions under the new, limited exemptions that were passed by the legislature last year (this is on top of the over 400,000 the applied for one-time permanent exemptions before the end of 2022). WA Cares Fund staff is continuing to do outreach to employers to prepare for the first round of quarterly reporting and premiums remission in October.

WA Cares staff is considering agency request legislation in 2024 to automatically exempt non-immigrant temporary visa workers, rather than requiring them to apply for exemption. They also received reports from the commission’s various workgroups on benefits portability, benefits eligibility, and other workgroups. Workgroups will be completing their recommendations in August and presenting them for the consideration of the full commission at the next LTSS Trust Commission meeting on September 19.

LEOFF 2 Board

The LEOFF 2 Board met on July 26. You can find the audio recording and meeting materials here.

The board discussed proposed legislation on creating new exemptions in the Public Records Act to exempt certain personal information from disclosure for retirees/payees, active members, and inactive members. The board also received reports on pension overpayments, lump sum special death benefits, and Department of Retirement System appeals.

Select Committee on Pension Policy

The SCPP met on July 18, and was recorded on TVW.

The SCPP selected a new chair and vice chair, and primarily received updates on several pensions’ issues from around the state. The committee heard an update from the State Actuary, which included some of OSA’s major projects, OSA request legislation to update the State Actuary’s statutory duties and responsibilities with OSA’s current practices. The committee also received reports from LEOFF 2 and DRS’s proposed PRA exemption legislation (see above), and heard a panel discussion on recruitment and retention issues at the Washington State Patrol.

Finally, the SCPP heard from staff on ongoing studies on PERS 1 COLAs and upcoming recommendations requested by the legislature on whether (or how) to redesign PERS 1 to include automatic annual COLAs, and its impact on the unfunded liability surcharge. SCPP staff plans to return to the committee at a later meeting with additional information on the study, with the aim to possibly have the committee ready to make recommendations to the legislature for the 2024 session.