Brief Description: Addressing transfers of service credit for emergency medical technicians under the law enforcement officers' and firefighters' retirement system plan 2.

Sponsors: By Representatives Hunter, Haler, P. Sullivan, Priest, Hurst, Conway, Schual-Berke, Haigh and Simpson; by request of LEOFF Plan 2 Retirement Board.

House Committee on Appropriations
Senate Committee on Ways & Means

Background:

Emergency medical technicians (EMTs) are included in the membership of the Law Enforcement Officers' and Fire Fighters' Plan 2 (LEOFF 2) if they work on a full-time, fully compensated basis for public employers, including cities, towns, counties, districts, municipal corporations, general authority law enforcement agencies, or four-year institutions of high education that had working fire departments before January 1, 1996.

Certain EMTs were moved from membership in the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) to LEOFF 2 by two acts of the Legislature in 2003 and 2005. Each act provided a mechanism to enable EMT members of LEOFF 2 to earn future service credit in LEOFF 2, and for members to transfer past service earned as an EMT in PERS Plan 2.

The EMT members of LEOFF 2 are required to elect to transfer past service no later than June 30, 2013, and must earn at least five years of service in LEOFF 2 before the PERS Plan 1 or 2 service is actually transferred from LEOFF 2. An EMT LEOFF 2 member transferring PERS service is also required to pay the difference between the contributions paid into PERS, and those that would have been paid had the member earned the service originally in LEOFF 2, plus interest. The member payment must be completed within five years of electing to transfer the service.

The provisions permitting EMT members of LEOFF 2 to transfer past service from PERS expire July 1, 2013.

Summary:

If an EMT member of LEOFF 2 who has elected to transfer service credit dies or retires for disability prior to five years from the date of election, the member or surviving spouse may complete payment of the required contributions or receive an actuarial reduction to the continuing monthly benefit that reflects the amount of the unpaid obligation.

The expiration of the EMT service credit transfer laws is changed from July 1, 2013, to July 1, 2023.

Votes on Final Passage:

House   93   0
Senate   49   0

Effective: July 22, 2007