BILL REQ. #:  H-0075.1 

Read first time 01/16/13.   Referred to Committee on Government Accountability & Oversight.

     AN ACT Relating to state agency debt collection; adding a new section to chapter 43.17 RCW; and adding a new section to chapter 41.40 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 43.17 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) All state agencies and institutions shall assign all debts over ninety days past due to a collection agency licensed under chapter 19.16 RCW.
     (2) State agencies and institutions contracting for debt collection services under this section must give preference to businesses that have hired state employees displaced by this section. The department of general administration shall develop a process to certify which businesses meet this requirement.
     (3) Any state employee whose position is displaced as a result of this section shall be eligible for placement on the statewide layoff list for employment by other state agencies. A state employee whose position is displaced as a result of this section and who is not offered employment with the state within ninety days of termination shall receive a severance payment equal to six months of the employee's regular rate of pay at the time of termination.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 41.40 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) A member whose position was displaced as a result of section 1 of this act after having first earned fifteen years of service credit while working for the state and who is eligible to retire under RCW 41.40.180, 41.40.630, or 41.40.820 may, at the time of filing a written application for retirement with the department, apply to the department for up to five years of additional service credit, subject to the restrictions in this section.
     (2) A member qualifying for service credit under subsection (1) of this section shall receive additional service credit in the amount of five years, to be reduced by one service credit month for every month of employment that the member works for an employer during the five-year period immediately following the displacement of the member's job as a result of section 1 of this act. The additional service credit granted to a member under this section shall be provided at no cost to the member.
     (3) Under no circumstances may a member receive more than five years of additional service credit as a result of credit granted under this section and the provisions of RCW 41.40.034. Additional service credit received under this section is not membership service and shall be used exclusively to increase the value of the member's retirement allowance.