HOUSE BILL REPORT
HB 2887
This analysis was prepared by non-partisan legislative staff for the use of legislative members in
their deliberations. This analysis is not a part of the legislation nor does it constitute a
statement of legislative intent.
As Passed Legislature
Title: An act relating to purchasing an increased benefit multiplier for past judicial service for judges in the public employees' retirement system.
Brief Description: Authorizing the purchase of an increased benefit multiplier for past judicial service for judges in the public employees' retirement system.
Sponsors: By Representatives Fromhold, Crouse, Conway, Wood and Kessler.
Brief History:
Appropriations: 2/6/08, 2/8/08 [DP].
Floor Activity:
Passed House: 2/18/08, 94-1.
Senate Amended.
Passed Senate: 3/5/08, 44-0.
House Concurred.
Passed House: 3/8/08, 93-0.
Passed Legislature.
Brief Summary of Bill |
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HOUSE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Majority Report: Do pass. Signed by 24 members: Representatives Sommers, Chair; Dunshee, Vice Chair; Haler, Assistant Ranking Minority Member; Cody, Conway, Darneille, Ericks, Fromhold, Green, Haigh, Hinkle, Hunt, Kagi, Kessler, Linville, McIntire, Morrell, Pettigrew, Priest, Ross, Schual-Berke, Seaquist, Sullivan and Walsh.
Minority Report: Do not pass. Signed by 5 members: Representatives Alexander, Ranking Minority Member; Anderson, Chandler, Kretz and Schmick.
Staff: David Pringle (786-7310).
Background:
Since July 1, 1988, newly elected or appointed judges and justices have become members of
the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) Plan 2. Since March 1, 2002, judges and
justices without previously established PERS membership have had the choice to enter PERS
Plan 2 or Plan 3.
The PERS Plan 2 provides most members with an unreduced benefit of 2 percent of average
final compensation for each year of service credit earned at age 65. The PERS Plan 3
provides most members with an unreduced benefit of 1 percent per year of service credit
earned at age 65, plus an individual member account of accumulated employee contributions
plus investment earnings. A general member of PERS Plan 2 or 3 may include any number
of years of service towards the 2 percent or 1 percent formula in calculating his or her
retirement benefit.
State-employed justices and judges, including those on the Washington Supreme Court,
Courts of Appeals, and Superior Courts, also participate in a supplemental defined
contribution program called the Judicial Retirement Account (JRA). The JRA was
established in 1988, and members and employers each contribute 2.5 percent of pay to an
individual member account. Distribution of the JRA is available to the member upon
retirement as a lump-sum or in other payment forms as made available by the administering
agency, the Administrator of the Courts.
Between 1937 and 1971, judges participated in the Judges' Retirement Plan and, between
1971 and 1988, the Judicial Retirement System. Both plans offered a benefit capped at 75
percent of pay that could be accrued after approximately 21.5 years of service. Both systems
are funded on a pay-as-you-go basis, with member contributions between 6.5 percent and 7.5
percent of pay and state contributions averaging in excess of 40 percent of pay. Judges who
established membership in PERS Plan 1 prior to October 1, 1977, and who became judges
after the closure of the Judicial Retirement System in 1988 remain members of PERS Plan 1.
The 2006 Legislature increased the required contribution rates for new judges in PERS and
the Teachers' Retirement System (TRS), ceased contributions to the JRA, and increased the
annual multiplier to 3.5 percent of pay per year of judicial service for members of Plan 1 or
Plan 2, and to 1.6 percent of pay per year of service for members of Plan 3. Members serving
as justices or judges at the effective date of the 2006 act were given the option of increasing
member contributions and moving to the higher annual multipliers, or continuing
participation in the JRA. A maximum benefit of 75 percent of pay applies to justices and
judges using the higher yearly multiplier formulas. In addition to providing for a higher
multiplier for future service in exchange for higher contribution rates, judges could also
purchase the higher multiplier for past years of judicial service earned at the 2 percent or 1
percent per year of service formulas. A judge electing to purchase or improve past years of
service is required to pay the actuarially equivalent value of the increase in the member's
benefit resulting from the increase in the benefit multiplier.
The 2007 Legislature provided judges in PERS and TRS the opportunity to purchase up to 70
percent of past judicial service in the PERS and TRS system prior to December 31, 2007, at
a rate reduced from the actuarial value of the increase in the member's benefit – 5 percent of
the salary earned for each month of service being purchased, plus interest for a member of
Plan 1 or Plan 2, or 2.5 percent of the salary earned, plus interest, for a member of Plan 3.
Summary of Bill:
Judges and justices in the Public Employees' Retirement System are authorized to purchase
past judicial service earned at 2 percent per year in Plans 1 or 2, or 1 percent per year in Plan
3, so that it will be included in their retirement formulas at 3.5 percent per year and 1.6
percent per year, respectively. Judges and justices making these purchases must do so at the
time of filing a written application for retirement, and the purchases are limited to years for
which the higher multipliers were not previously earned or purchased, and so that a Plan 1 or
2 member does not have more than a 75 percent of average final compensation benefit, or a
Plan 3 member does not have more than a 37.5 percent of average final compensation benefit.
A judge making a purchase of the higher multiplier for a past year of service is required to
pay 5 percent of the salary earned during the year in which the service credit being purchased
was earned, plus 5.5 percent interest applied from the date of service.
Former appellate or superior court judges or Supreme Court Justices that have either become
employed in other PERS positions or are inactive term vested members may also purchase
past years of judicial service at the higher per year of service multipliers between January 1,
2009 and June 30, 2009. The purchase can be for all of a judge's past judicial service, and
the cost of the purchases is the actuarial equivalent of the value of the increase in the
member's benefit, as determined by the Director of the Department of Retirement Systems.
Appropriation: None.
Fiscal Note: Requested on February 2, 2008.
Effective Date: The bill takes effect 90 days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.
Staff Summary of Public Testimony:
(In support) This bill addresses an issue of judicial retirement of interest to judges at all
levels. It follows upon past bills, permitting the purchase of past years of service credit at
retirement. It works more like the service credit purchase provisions in other plans, and
provides more equality among judges. This will be truly helpful in attracting and retaining
top quality judges from all parts of the legal community.
(Opposed) None.
Persons Testifying: Tom Parker, Leonard Costello and Gordon Godfrey, Superior Court Judges Association.