BILL REQ. #: Z-0500.2
State of Washington | 62nd Legislature | 2011 Regular Session |
Read first time 02/08/11. Referred to Committee on Ways & Means.
BE IT RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
STATE OF WASHINGTON, IN LEGISLATIVE SESSION ASSEMBLED:
THAT, At the next general election to be held in this state the
secretary of state shall submit to the qualified voters of the state
for their approval and ratification, or rejection, an amendment to the
Constitution of the state of Washington by adding a new article to read
as follows:
Article ..., section 1. To ensure more fiscal discipline in
budgeting and to improve intergenerational equity for taxpayers,
minimum standards shall apply to public pension plans administered by
the state of Washington. Retirement benefits provided under these
plans should, to the maximum extent possible, be funded over the
working lives of plan members so that employer costs are paid by the
taxpayers who receive the benefit of those members' service.
This article applies to any defined benefit component of a public
employee retirement plan administered by the state of Washington,
except, as of the effective date of this section, the judges retirement
fund, judicial retirement system, law enforcement officers' and
firefighters' retirement system plan 1, and the volunteer firefighters'
and reserve officers' relief and pension fund.
Article ..., section 2. For each state-administered pension plan
that is open to new entrants, annual contributions paid into the plan
must be in amounts sufficient to fund at least eighty percent of the
expected long-term annual cost of benefits under the plan, calculated
as normal cost under the entry age normal actuarial cost method. These
annual contributions shall remain in effect so long as the present
value of fully projected benefits exceeds the actuarial value of assets
for that plan as of the most recently published actuarial rate-setting
valuation.
Article ..., section 3. Beginning July 1, 2015, annual employer
contributions made to plan 1 of the public employees' retirement system
must be in amounts totaling no less than 5.25 percent of the salaries
of all active members of the public employees' retirement system,
public safety employees' retirement system, school employees'
retirement system, and any newly created retirement plan for public
employees that were previously covered under the public employees'
retirement system.
Beginning September 1, 2015, annual employer contributions made to
plan 1 of the teachers' retirement system must be in amounts totaling
no less than 8.00 percent of the salaries of all active members of the
teachers' retirement system, and any newly created retirement plan for
teachers that were previously covered under the teachers' retirement
system.
These annual employer contributions shall be used for the sole
purpose of amortizing the unfunded actuarial accrued liability of the
plan, and they exclude any amounts required to fund new benefit
improvements that become law after the effective date of this section.
These annual employer contributions shall remain in effect until the
actuarial value of assets in the plan equals at least one hundred
percent of the actuarial accrued liability.
Article ..., section 4. The legislature shall adopt policies to
reasonably ensure that once the unfunded actuarial accrued liability in
a closed plan is fully funded, it will not reemerge. In addition, the
legislature shall adopt policies that reasonably prevent the emergence
of an unfunded actuarial accrued liability in any open plan, or in any
plan that is closed to new entrants after the effective date of this
section.
Article ..., section 5. Legislative changes to actuarial methods
or economic assumptions that result in lower expected long-term annual
pension costs take effect two years following the date of enactment or
at the beginning of the next fiscal biennium, whichever is later.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this amendment is a single amendment
within the meaning of Article XXIII, section 1 of the state
Constitution.
The legislature finds that the changes contained in this amendment
constitute a single integrated plan for managing risks in funding
pensions for members and beneficiaries of the state-administered
pension plans. If this amendment is held to be separate amendments,
this joint resolution is void in its entirety and is of no further
force and effect.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the secretary of state shall cause
notice of the foregoing constitutional amendment to be published at
least four times during the four weeks next preceding the election in
every legal newspaper in the state.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That, pursuant to RCW 29A.36.020, the
statement of subject and concise description for the ballot title shall
read: The legislature has passed a constitutional amendment on
requiring fiscal discipline in funding public pensions. This amendment
will lower costs for taxpayers and increase financial security by
requiring government to use actuarial principles to fund public
pensions, thus maximizing investment returns to pay for its unavoidable
contractual obligations. Should this constitutional amendment be:
Approved . . . . .
Rejected . . . . .