HB 2144, concerning the Law Enforcement Officers’ and Firefighters’ Plan 2 (LEOFF 2) pension system, was passed by the House and voted out of the Senate Ways & Means Committee last week.
In 2008, the state created the Public Safety Enhancement Account (PSEA) to provide local governments greater resources for public safety and to create a new mechanism to pay for LEOFF 2 benefit enhancements. The PSEA has never been funded by the state.
HB 2144 seeks to repeal any current or future PSEA obligations. The bill would also transfer $300 million out of the LEOFF 2 trust fund and into a subaccount to pay for unidentified new pension benefits. AWC has concerns that these proposals use pension trust funds to pay for a state obligation and the transfer reduces the pension plan’s funded status.
The bill is currently awaiting a vote on the Senate floor. AWC will continue to engage on this issue.