H-5133.1 _______________________________________________
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 4439
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State of Washington 52nd Legislature 1992 Regular Session
By Representatives Spanel, McLean, Hine and D. Sommers
Read first time 03/10/92. Referred to Committee on Rules Review.
WHEREAS, Most political subdivision employees in the state of Washington, except for those employed by the cities of Seattle, Spokane, and Tacoma, are covered by the Public Employees' Retirement System; and
WHEREAS, The Legislature has taken action in the past to consolidate political subdivision employees into the Public Employees' Retirement System, such as the merging of the State-wide City Employees' Retirement System into the Public Employees' Retirement System in 1971; and
WHEREAS, The Legislature has also taken action in the past to promote the portability of state-administered retirement benefits; and
WHEREAS, Hundreds of millions of dollars in liabilities were transferred from underfunded political subdivision pension systems to the state when the Law Enforcement Officers' and Fire Fighters' Retirement System was created in 1970; and
WHEREAS, Small pension systems tend to have higher administrative costs and it can be difficult to audit or enforce funding standards for these small systems; and
WHEREAS, Some newly created special districts, towns, and cities have expressed interest in creating their own pension plans for their employees rather than in joining the Public Employees' Retirement System; and
WHEREAS, Some newly created political subdivisions have faced large costs for providing credit for past service if they decided to join the Public Employees' Retirement System; and
WHEREAS, Current statutes are not clear regarding whether political subdivisions must be employers in the Public Employees' Retirement System, and do not clearly provide other alternatives for providing retirement benefits to employees;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, By the House of Representatives of the State of Washington, the Senate concurring, That the Joint Committee on Pension Policy is hereby requested to study the issues of whether political subdivisions, other than Seattle, Spokane, and Tacoma, ought to be required to cover their employees in the Public Employees' Retirement System, whether political subdivisions should be permitted to cover their employees in separate defined contribution or defined benefit pension systems, and whether political subdivisions should be required to provide retirement benefits that are portable; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Joint Committee on Pension Policy be requested to prepare a report, and if appropriate, proposed legislation with an effective date of January 1, 1992, for introduction during the 1993 legislative session.