6418 AMS MUZZ S5929.2
SB 6418 - S AMD 1064
By Senator Muzzall
Strike everything after the enacting clause and insert the following:
"NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 41.50 RCW to read as follows:
For purposes of calculating interruptive military service credit under chapters 41.26, 41.32, 41.35, 41.37, 41.40, and 43.43 RCW, "period of war" means:
(1) World War I;
(2) World War II;
(3) The Korean conflict;
(4) The Vietnam era, which means:
(a) The period beginning February 28, 1961, and ending May 7, 1975, in the case of a veteran who served in the Republic of Vietnam during that period; and
(b) The period beginning August 5, 1964, and ending May 7, 1975;
(5) The Persian Gulf War, which was the period beginning August 2, 1990, and ending February 28, 1991, or ending November 30, 1995, if the participant was awarded a campaign badge or medal for such period;
(6) The period beginning on the date of any future declaration of war by the congress and ending on the date prescribed by presidential proclamation or concurrent resolution of the congress; and
(7) Any armed conflict, if the participant was awarded the respective campaign badge or medal, or if the service was such that a campaign badge or medal would have been awarded, except that the member already received a campaign badge or medal for a prior deployment during that same conflict.
Sec. 2. RCW 41.26.030 and 2018 c 230 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
As used in this chapter, unless a different meaning is plainly required by the context:
(1) "Accumulated contributions" means the employee's contributions made by a member, including any amount paid under RCW 41.50.165(2), plus accrued interest credited thereon.
(2) "Actuarial reserve" means a method of financing a pension or retirement plan wherein reserves are accumulated as the liabilities for benefit payments are incurred in order that sufficient funds will be available on the date of retirement of each member to pay the member's future benefits during the period of retirement.
(3) "Actuarial valuation" means a mathematical determination of the financial condition of a retirement plan. It includes the computation of the present monetary value of benefits payable to present members, and the present monetary value of future employer and employee contributions, giving effect to mortality among active and retired members and also to the rates of disability, retirement, withdrawal from service, salary and interest earned on investments.
(4)(a) "Basic salary" for plan 1 members, means the basic monthly rate of salary or wages, including longevity pay but not including overtime earnings or special salary or wages, upon which pension or retirement benefits will be computed and upon which employer contributions and salary deductions will be based.
(b) "Basic salary" for plan 2 members, means salaries or wages earned by a member during a payroll period for personal services, including overtime payments, and shall include wages and salaries deferred under provisions established pursuant to sections 403(b), 414(h), and 457 of the United States Internal Revenue Code, but shall exclude lump sum payments for deferred annual sick leave, unused accumulated vacation, unused accumulated annual leave, or any form of severance pay. In any year in which a member serves in the legislature the member shall have the option of having such member's basic salary be the greater of:
(i) The basic salary the member would have received had such member not served in the legislature; or
(ii) Such member's actual basic salary received for nonlegislative public employment and legislative service combined. Any additional contributions to the retirement system required because basic salary under (b)(i) of this subsection is greater than basic salary under (b)(ii) of this subsection shall be paid by the member for both member and employer contributions.
(5)(a) "Beneficiary" for plan 1 members, means any person in receipt of a retirement allowance, disability allowance, death benefit, or any other benefit described herein.
(b) "Beneficiary" for plan 2 members, means any person in receipt of a retirement allowance or other benefit provided by this chapter resulting from service rendered to an employer by another person.
(6)(a) "Child" or "children" means an unmarried person who is under the age of eighteen or mentally or physically disabled as determined by the department, except a person who is disabled and in the full time care of a state institution, who is:
(i) A natural born child;
(ii) A stepchild where that relationship was in existence prior to the date benefits are payable under this chapter;
(iii) A posthumous child;
(iv) A child legally adopted or made a legal ward of a member prior to the date benefits are payable under this chapter; or
(v) An illegitimate child legitimized prior to the date any benefits are payable under this chapter.
(b) A person shall also be deemed to be a child up to and including the age of twenty years and eleven months while attending any high school, college, or vocational or other educational institution accredited, licensed, or approved by the state, in which it is located, including the summer vacation months and all other normal and regular vacation periods at the particular educational institution after which the child returns to school.
(7) "Department" means the department of retirement systems created in chapter 41.50 RCW.
(8) "Director" means the director of the department.
(9) "Disability board" for plan 1 members means either the county disability board or the city disability board established in RCW 41.26.110.
(10) "Disability leave" means the period of six months or any portion thereof during which a member is on leave at an allowance equal to the member's full salary prior to the commencement of disability retirement. The definition contained in this subsection shall apply only to plan 1 members.
(11) "Disability retirement" for plan 1 members, means the period following termination of a member's disability leave, during which the member is in receipt of a disability retirement allowance.
(12) "Domestic partners" means two adults who have registered as domestic partners under RCW 26.60.020.
(13) "Employee" means any law enforcement officer or firefighter as defined in subsections (17) and (19) of this section.
(14)(a) "Employer" for plan 1 members, means the legislative authority of any city, town, county, or district or the elected officials of any municipal corporation that employs any law enforcement officer and/or firefighter, any authorized association of such municipalities, and, except for the purposes of RCW 41.26.150, any labor guild, association, or organization, which represents the firefighters or law enforcement officers of at least seven cities of over 20,000 population and the membership of each local lodge or division of which is composed of at least sixty percent law enforcement officers or firefighters as defined in this chapter.
(b) "Employer" for plan 2 members, means the following entities to the extent that the entity employs any law enforcement officer and/or firefighter:
(i) The legislative authority of any city, town, county, district, or public corporation established under RCW 35.21.730 to provide emergency medical services as defined in RCW 18.73.030;
(ii) The elected officials of any municipal corporation;
(iii) The governing body of any other general authority law enforcement agency;
(iv) A four-year institution of higher education having a fully operational fire department as of January 1, 1996; or
(v) The department of social and health services or the department of corrections when employing firefighters serving at a prison or civil commitment center on an island.
(c) Except as otherwise specifically provided in this chapter, "employer" does not include a government contractor. For purposes of this subsection, a "government contractor" is any entity, including a partnership, limited liability company, for-profit or nonprofit corporation, or person, that provides services pursuant to a contract with an "employer." The determination whether an employer-employee relationship has been established is not based on the relationship between a government contractor and an "employer," but is based solely on the relationship between a government contractor's employee and an "employer" under this chapter.
(15)(a) "Final average salary" for plan 1 members, means (i) for a member holding the same position or rank for a minimum of twelve months preceding the date of retirement, the basic salary attached to such same position or rank at time of retirement; (ii) for any other member, including a civil service member who has not served a minimum of twelve months in the same position or rank preceding the date of retirement, the average of the greatest basic salaries payable to such member during any consecutive twenty-four month period within such member's last ten years of service for which service credit is allowed, computed by dividing the total basic salaries payable to such member during the selected twenty-four month period by twenty-four; (iii) in the case of disability of any member, the basic salary payable to such member at the time of disability retirement; (iv) in the case of a member who hereafter vests pursuant to RCW 41.26.090, the basic salary payable to such member at the time of vesting.
(b) "Final average salary" for plan 2 members, means the monthly average of the member's basic salary for the highest consecutive sixty service credit months of service prior to such member's retirement, termination, or death. Periods constituting authorized unpaid leaves of absence may not be used in the calculation of final average salary.
(c) In calculating final average salary under (a) or (b) of this subsection, the department of retirement systems shall include:
(i) Any compensation forgone by a member employed by a state agency or institution during the 2009-2011 fiscal biennium as a result of reduced work hours, mandatory or voluntary leave without pay, temporary reduction in pay implemented prior to December 11, 2010, or temporary layoffs if the reduced compensation is an integral part of the employer's expenditure reduction efforts, as certified by the employer; and
(ii) Any compensation forgone by a member employed by the state or a local government employer during the 2011-2013 fiscal biennium as a result of reduced work hours, mandatory leave without pay, temporary layoffs, or reductions to current pay if the reduced compensation is an integral part of the employer's expenditure reduction efforts, as certified by the employer. Reductions to current pay shall not include elimination of previously agreed upon future salary increases.
(16) "Fire department" includes a fire station operated by the department of social and health services or the department of corrections when employing firefighters serving a prison or civil commitment center on an island.
(17) "Firefighter" means:
(a) Any person who is serving on a full time, fully compensated basis as a member of a fire department of an employer and who is serving in a position which requires passing a civil service examination for firefighter, and who is actively employed as such;
(b) Anyone who is actively employed as a full time firefighter where the fire department does not have a civil service examination;
(c) Supervisory firefighter personnel;
(d) Any full time executive secretary of an association of fire protection districts authorized under RCW 52.12.031. The provisions of this subsection (17)(d) shall not apply to plan 2 members;
(e) The executive secretary of a labor guild, association or organization (which is an employer under subsection (14) of this section), if such individual has five years previous membership in a retirement system established in chapter 41.16 or 41.18 RCW. The provisions of this subsection (17)(e) shall not apply to plan 2 members;
(f) Any person who is serving on a full time, fully compensated basis for an employer, as a fire dispatcher, in a department in which, on March 1, 1970, a dispatcher was required to have passed a civil service examination for firefighter;
(g) Any person who on March 1, 1970, was employed on a full time, fully compensated basis by an employer, and who on May 21, 1971, was making retirement contributions under the provisions of chapter 41.16 or 41.18 RCW; and
(h) Any person who is employed on a full-time, fully compensated basis by an employer as an emergency medical technician that meets the requirements of RCW 18.71.200 or 18.73.030(12), and whose duties include providing emergency medical services as defined in RCW 18.73.030.
(18) "General authority law enforcement agency" means any agency, department, or division of a municipal corporation, political subdivision, or other unit of local government of this state, and any agency, department, or division of state government, having as its primary function the detection and apprehension of persons committing infractions or violating the traffic or criminal laws in general, but not including the Washington state patrol. Such an agency, department, or division is distinguished from a limited authority law enforcement agency having as one of its functions the apprehension or detection of persons committing infractions or violating the traffic or criminal laws relating to limited subject areas, including but not limited to, the state departments of natural resources and social and health services, the state gambling commission, the state lottery commission, the state parks and recreation commission, the state utilities and transportation commission, the state liquor and cannabis board, and the state department of corrections. A general authority law enforcement agency under this chapter does not include a government contractor.
(19) "Law enforcement officer" beginning January 1, 1994, means any person who is commissioned and employed by an employer on a full time, fully compensated basis to enforce the criminal laws of the state of Washington generally, with the following qualifications:
(a) No person who is serving in a position that is basically clerical or secretarial in nature, and who is not commissioned shall be considered a law enforcement officer;
(b) Only those deputy sheriffs, including those serving under a different title pursuant to county charter, who have successfully completed a civil service examination for deputy sheriff or the equivalent position, where a different title is used, and those persons serving in unclassified positions authorized by RCW 41.14.070 except a private secretary will be considered law enforcement officers;
(c) Only such full time commissioned law enforcement personnel as have been appointed to offices, positions, or ranks in the police department which have been specifically created or otherwise expressly provided for and designated by city charter provision or by ordinance enacted by the legislative body of the city shall be considered city police officers;
(d) The term "law enforcement officer" also includes the executive secretary of a labor guild, association or organization (which is an employer under subsection (14) of this section) if that individual has five years previous membership in the retirement system established in chapter 41.20 RCW. The provisions of this subsection (19)(d) shall not apply to plan 2 members; and
(e) The term "law enforcement officer" also includes a person employed on or after January 1, 1993, as a public safety officer or director of public safety, so long as the job duties substantially involve only either police or fire duties, or both, and no other duties in a city or town with a population of less than ten thousand. The provisions of this subsection (19)(e) shall not apply to any public safety officer or director of public safety who is receiving a retirement allowance under this chapter as of May 12, 1993.
(20) "Medical services" for plan 1 members, shall include the following as minimum services to be provided. Reasonable charges for these services shall be paid in accordance with RCW 41.26.150.
(a) Hospital expenses: These are the charges made by a hospital, in its own behalf, for
(i) Board and room not to exceed semiprivate room rate unless private room is required by the attending physician due to the condition of the patient.
(ii) Necessary hospital services, other than board and room, furnished by the hospital.
(b) Other medical expenses: The following charges are considered "other medical expenses," provided that they have not been considered as "hospital expenses".
(i) The fees of the following:
(A) A physician or surgeon licensed under the provisions of chapter 18.71 RCW;
(B) An osteopathic physician and surgeon licensed under the provisions of chapter 18.57 RCW;
(C) A chiropractor licensed under the provisions of chapter 18.25 RCW.
(ii) The charges of a registered graduate nurse other than a nurse who ordinarily resides in the member's home, or is a member of the family of either the member or the member's spouse.
(iii) The charges for the following medical services and supplies:
(A) Drugs and medicines upon a physician's prescription;
(B) Diagnostic X-ray and laboratory examinations;
(C) X-ray, radium, and radioactive isotopes therapy;
(D) Anesthesia and oxygen;
(E) Rental of iron lung and other durable medical and surgical equipment;
(F) Artificial limbs and eyes, and casts, splints, and trusses;
(G) Professional ambulance service when used to transport the member to or from a hospital when injured by an accident or stricken by a disease;
(H) Dental charges incurred by a member who sustains an accidental injury to his or her teeth and who commences treatment by a legally licensed dentist within ninety days after the accident;
(I) Nursing home confinement or hospital extended care facility;
(J) Physical therapy by a registered physical therapist;
(K) Blood transfusions, including the cost of blood and blood plasma not replaced by voluntary donors;
(L) An optometrist licensed under the provisions of chapter 18.53 RCW.
(21) "Member" means any firefighter, law enforcement officer, or other person as would apply under subsection((s)) (17) or (19) of this section whose membership is transferred to the Washington law enforcement officers' and firefighters' retirement system on or after March 1, 1970, and every law enforcement officer and firefighter who is employed in that capacity on or after such date.
(22) "Period of war" has the meaning defined in section 1 of this act.
(23) "Plan 1" means the law enforcement officers' and firefighters' retirement system, plan 1 providing the benefits and funding provisions covering persons who first became members of the system prior to October 1, 1977.
(((23)))(24) "Plan 2" means the law enforcement officers' and firefighters' retirement system, plan 2 providing the benefits and funding provisions covering persons who first became members of the system on and after October 1, 1977.
(((24)))(25) "Position" means the employment held at any particular time, which may or may not be the same as civil service rank.
(((25)))(26) "Regular interest" means such rate as the director may determine.
(((26)))(27) "Retiree" for persons who establish membership in the retirement system on or after October 1, 1977, means any member in receipt of a retirement allowance or other benefit provided by this chapter resulting from service rendered to an employer by such member.
(((27)))(28) "Retirement fund" means the "Washington law enforcement officers' and firefighters' retirement system fund" as provided for herein.
(((28)))(29) "Retirement system" means the "Washington law enforcement officers' and firefighters' retirement system" provided herein.
(((29)))(30)(a) "Service" for plan 1 members, means all periods of employment for an employer as a firefighter or law enforcement officer, for which compensation is paid, together with periods of suspension not exceeding thirty days in duration. For the purposes of this chapter service shall also include service in the armed forces of the United States as provided in RCW 41.26.190. Credit shall be allowed for all service credit months of service rendered by a member from and after the member's initial commencement of employment as a firefighter or law enforcement officer, during which the member worked for seventy or more hours, or was on disability leave or disability retirement. Only service credit months of service shall be counted in the computation of any retirement allowance or other benefit provided for in this chapter.
(i) For members retiring after May 21, 1971 who were employed under the coverage of a prior pension act before March 1, 1970, "service" shall also include (A) such military service not exceeding five years as was creditable to the member as of March 1, 1970, under the member's particular prior pension act, and (B) such other periods of service as were then creditable to a particular member under the provisions of RCW 41.18.165, 41.20.160, or 41.20.170. However, in no event shall credit be allowed for any service rendered prior to March 1, 1970, where the member at the time of rendition of such service was employed in a position covered by a prior pension act, unless such service, at the time credit is claimed therefor, is also creditable under the provisions of such prior act.
(ii) A member who is employed by two employers at the same time shall only be credited with service to one such employer for any month during which the member rendered such dual service.
(b) "Service" for plan 2 members, means periods of employment by a member for one or more employers for which basic salary is earned for ninety or more hours per calendar month which shall constitute a service credit month. Periods of employment by a member for one or more employers for which basic salary is earned for at least seventy hours but less than ninety hours per calendar month shall constitute one-half service credit month. Periods of employment by a member for one or more employers for which basic salary is earned for less than seventy hours shall constitute a one-quarter service credit month.
Members of the retirement system who are elected or appointed to a state elective position may elect to continue to be members of this retirement system.
Service credit years of service shall be determined by dividing the total number of service credit months of service by twelve. Any fraction of a service credit year of service as so determined shall be taken into account in the computation of such retirement allowance or benefits.
If a member receives basic salary from two or more employers during any calendar month, the individual shall receive one service credit month's service credit during any calendar month in which multiple service for ninety or more hours is rendered; or one-half service credit month's service credit during any calendar month in which multiple service for at least seventy hours but less than ninety hours is rendered; or one-quarter service credit month during any calendar month in which multiple service for less than seventy hours is rendered.
(((30)))(31) "Service credit month" means a full service credit month or an accumulation of partial service credit months that are equal to one.
(((31)))(32) "Service credit year" means an accumulation of months of service credit which is equal to one when divided by twelve.
(((32)))(33) "State actuary" or "actuary" means the person appointed pursuant to RCW 44.44.010(2).
(((33)))(34) "State elective position" means any position held by any person elected or appointed to statewide office or elected or appointed as a member of the legislature.
(((34)))(35) "Surviving spouse" means the surviving widow or widower of a member. "Surviving spouse" shall not include the divorced spouse of a member except as provided in RCW 41.26.162.
Sec. 3. RCW 41.32.010 and 2018 c 257 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
As used in this chapter, unless a different meaning is plainly required by the context:
(1)(a) "Accumulated contributions" for plan 1 members, means the sum of all regular annuity contributions and, except for the purpose of withdrawal at the time of retirement, any amount paid under RCW 41.50.165(2) with regular interest thereon.
(b) "Accumulated contributions" for plan 2 members, means the sum of all contributions standing to the credit of a member in the member's individual account, including any amount paid under RCW 41.50.165(2), together with the regular interest thereon.
(2) "Actuarial equivalent" means a benefit of equal value when computed upon the basis of such mortality tables and regulations as shall be adopted by the director and regular interest.
(3) "Adjustment ratio" means the value of index A divided by index B.
(4) "Annual increase" means, initially, fifty-nine cents per month per year of service which amount shall be increased each July 1st by three percent, rounded to the nearest cent.
(5) "Annuity" means the moneys payable per year during life by reason of accumulated contributions of a member.
(6) "Average final compensation" for plan 2 and plan 3 members, means the member's average earnable compensation of the highest consecutive sixty service credit months prior to such member's retirement, termination, or death. Periods constituting authorized leaves of absence may not be used in the calculation of average final compensation except under RCW 41.32.810(2).
(7)(a) "Beneficiary" for plan 1 members, means any person in receipt of a retirement allowance or other benefit provided by this chapter.
(b) "Beneficiary" for plan 2 and plan 3 members, means any person in receipt of a retirement allowance or other benefit provided by this chapter resulting from service rendered to an employer by another person.
(8) "Contract" means any agreement for service and compensation between a member and an employer.
(9) "Creditable service" means membership service plus prior service for which credit is allowable. This subsection shall apply only to plan 1 members.
(10) "Department" means the department of retirement systems created in chapter 41.50 RCW.
(11) "Dependent" means receiving one-half or more of support from a member.
(12) "Director" means the director of the department.
(13) "Disability allowance" means monthly payments during disability. This subsection shall apply only to plan 1 members.
(14)(a) "Earnable compensation" for plan 1 members, means:
(i) All salaries and wages paid by an employer to an employee member of the retirement system for personal services rendered during a fiscal year. In all cases where compensation includes maintenance the employer shall fix the value of that part of the compensation not paid in money.
(ii) For an employee member of the retirement system teaching in an extended school year program, two consecutive extended school years, as defined by the employer school district, may be used as the annual period for determining earnable compensation in lieu of the two fiscal years.
(iii) "Earnable compensation" for plan 1 members also includes the following actual or imputed payments, which are not paid for personal services:
(A) Retroactive payments to an individual by an employer on reinstatement of the employee in a position, or payments by an employer to an individual in lieu of reinstatement in a position which are awarded or granted as the equivalent of the salary or wages which the individual would have earned during a payroll period shall be considered earnable compensation and the individual shall receive the equivalent service credit.
(B) If a leave of absence, without pay, is taken by a member for the purpose of serving as a member of the state legislature, and such member has served in the legislature five or more years, the salary which would have been received for the position from which the leave of absence was taken shall be considered as compensation earnable if the employee's contribution thereon is paid by the employee. In addition, where a member has been a member of the state legislature for five or more years, earnable compensation for the member's two highest compensated consecutive years of service shall include a sum not to exceed thirty-six hundred dollars for each of such two consecutive years, regardless of whether or not legislative service was rendered during those two years.
(iv) For members employed less than full time under written contract with a school district, or community college district, in an instructional position, for which the member receives service credit of less than one year in all of the years used to determine the earnable compensation used for computing benefits due under RCW 41.32.497, 41.32.498, and 41.32.520, the member may elect to have earnable compensation defined as provided in RCW 41.32.345. For the purposes of this subsection, the term "instructional position" means a position in which more than seventy-five percent of the member's time is spent as a classroom instructor (including office hours), a librarian, a psychologist, a social worker, a nurse, a physical therapist, an occupational therapist, a speech language pathologist or audiologist, or a counselor. Earnable compensation shall be so defined only for the purpose of the calculation of retirement benefits and only as necessary to insure that members who receive fractional service credit under RCW 41.32.270 receive benefits proportional to those received by members who have received full-time service credit.
(v) "Earnable compensation" does not include:
(A) Remuneration for unused sick leave authorized under RCW 41.04.340, 28A.400.210, or 28A.310.490;
(B) Remuneration for unused annual leave in excess of two hundred forty hours as authorized by RCW 43.01.044 and 43.01.041.
(b) "Earnable compensation" for plan 2 and plan 3 members, means salaries or wages earned by a member during a payroll period for personal services, including overtime payments, and shall include wages and salaries deferred under provisions established pursuant to sections 403(b), 414(h), and 457 of the United States Internal Revenue Code, but shall exclude lump sum payments for deferred annual sick leave, unused accumulated vacation, unused accumulated annual leave, or any form of severance pay.
"Earnable compensation" for plan 2 and plan 3 members also includes the following actual or imputed payments which, except in the case of (b)(ii)(B) of this subsection, are not paid for personal services:
(i) Retroactive payments to an individual by an employer on reinstatement of the employee in a position or payments by an employer to an individual in lieu of reinstatement in a position which are awarded or granted as the equivalent of the salary or wages which the individual would have earned during a payroll period shall be considered earnable compensation, to the extent provided above, and the individual shall receive the equivalent service credit.
(ii) In any year in which a member serves in the legislature the member shall have the option of having such member's earnable compensation be the greater of:
(A) The earnable compensation the member would have received had such member not served in the legislature; or
(B) Such member's actual earnable compensation received for teaching and legislative service combined. Any additional contributions to the retirement system required because compensation earnable under (b)(ii)(A) of this subsection is greater than compensation earnable under (b)(ii)(B) of this subsection shall be paid by the member for both member and employer contributions.
(c) In calculating earnable compensation under (a) or (b) of this subsection, the department of retirement systems shall include:
(i) Any compensation forgone by a member employed by a state agency or institution during the 2009-2011 fiscal biennium as a result of reduced work hours, mandatory or voluntary leave without pay, temporary reduction in pay implemented prior to December 11, 2010, or temporary layoffs if the reduced compensation is an integral part of the employer's expenditure reduction efforts, as certified by the employer; and
(ii) Any compensation forgone by a member during the 2011-2013 fiscal biennium as a result of reduced work hours, mandatory leave without pay, temporary layoffs, or reductions to current pay if the reduced compensation is an integral part of the employer's expenditure reduction efforts, as certified by the employer. Reductions to current pay shall not include elimination of previously agreed upon future salary reductions.
(15)(a) "Eligible position" for plan 2 members from June 7, 1990, through September 1, 1991, means a position which normally requires two or more uninterrupted months of creditable service during September through August of the following year.
(b) "Eligible position" for plan 2 and plan 3 on and after September 1, 1991, means a position that, as defined by the employer, normally requires five or more months of at least seventy hours of earnable compensation during September through August of the following year.
(c) For purposes of this chapter an employer shall not define "position" in such a manner that an employee's monthly work for that employer is divided into more than one position.
(d) The elected position of the superintendent of public instruction is an eligible position.
(16) "Employed" or "employee" means a person who is providing services for compensation to an employer, unless the person is free from the employer's direction and control over the performance of work. The department shall adopt rules and interpret this subsection consistent with common law.
(17) "Employer" means the state of Washington, the school district, or any agency of the state of Washington by which the member is paid. Except as otherwise specifically provided in this chapter, "employer" does not include a government contractor. For purposes of this subsection, a "government contractor" is any entity, including a partnership, limited liability company, for-profit or nonprofit corporation, or person, that provides services pursuant to a contract with an employer. The determination whether an employer-employee relationship has been established is not based on the relationship between a government contractor and an employer, but is based solely on the relationship between a government contractor's employee and an employer under this chapter. For the purposes of retirement plan membership, this subsection includes tribal schools who have chosen to participate in the retirement system and satisfied the requirements of RCW 28A.715.010(7).
(18) "Fiscal year" means a year which begins July 1st and ends June 30th of the following year.
(19) "Former state fund" means the state retirement fund in operation for teachers under chapter 187, Laws of 1923, as amended.
(20) "Index" means, for any calendar year, that year's annual average consumer price index, Seattle, Washington area, for urban wage earners and clerical workers, all items compiled by the bureau of labor statistics, United States department of labor.
(21) "Index A" means the index for the year prior to the determination of a postretirement adjustment.
(22) "Index B" means the index for the year prior to index A.
(23) "Index year" means the earliest calendar year in which the index is more than sixty percent of index A.
(24) "Local fund" means any of the local retirement funds for teachers operated in any school district in accordance with the provisions of chapter 163, Laws of 1917 as amended.
(25) "Member" means any teacher included in the membership of the retirement system who has not been removed from membership under RCW 41.32.878 or 41.32.768. Also, any other employee of the public schools who, on July 1, 1947, had not elected to be exempt from membership and who, prior to that date, had by an authorized payroll deduction, contributed to the member reserve.
(26) "Member account" or "member's account" for purposes of plan 3 means the sum of the contributions and earnings on behalf of the member in the defined contribution portion of plan 3.
(27) "Member reserve" means the fund in which all of the accumulated contributions of members are held.
(28) "Membership service" means service rendered subsequent to the first day of eligibility of a person to membership in the retirement system: PROVIDED, That where a member is employed by two or more employers the individual shall receive no more than one service credit month during any calendar month in which multiple service is rendered. The provisions of this subsection shall apply only to plan 1 members.
(29) "Pension" means the moneys payable per year during life from the pension reserve.
(30) "Pension reserve" is a fund in which shall be accumulated an actuarial reserve adequate to meet present and future pension liabilities of the system and from which all pension obligations are to be paid.
(31) "Period of war" has the meaning defined in section 1 of this act.
(32) "Plan 1" means the teachers' retirement system, plan 1 providing the benefits and funding provisions covering persons who first became members of the system prior to October 1, 1977.
(((32)))(33) "Plan 2" means the teachers' retirement system, plan 2 providing the benefits and funding provisions covering persons who first became members of the system on and after October 1, 1977, and prior to July 1, 1996.
(((33)))(34) "Plan 3" means the teachers' retirement system, plan 3 providing the benefits and funding provisions covering persons who first become members of the system on and after July 1, 1996, or who transfer under RCW 41.32.817.
(((34)))(35) "Prior service" means service rendered prior to the first date of eligibility to membership in the retirement system for which credit is allowable. The provisions of this subsection shall apply only to plan 1 members.
(((35)))(36) "Prior service contributions" means contributions made by a member to secure credit for prior service. The provisions of this subsection shall apply only to plan 1 members.
(((36)))(37) "Public school" means any institution or activity operated by the state of Washington or any instrumentality or political subdivision thereof employing teachers, except the University of Washington and Washington State University. For the purposes of retirement plan membership, this subsection includes tribal schools who have chosen to participate in the retirement system and satisfied the requirements of RCW 28A.715.010(7).
(((37)))(38) "Regular contributions" means the amounts required to be deducted from the compensation of a member and credited to the member's individual account in the member reserve. This subsection shall apply only to plan 1 members.
(((38)))(39) "Regular interest" means such rate as the director may determine.
(((39)))(40) "Retiree" means any person who has begun accruing a retirement allowance or other benefit provided by this chapter resulting from service rendered to an employer while a member.
(((40)))(41)(a) "Retirement allowance" for plan 1 members, means monthly payments based on the sum of annuity and pension, or any optional benefits payable in lieu thereof.
(b) "Retirement allowance" for plan 2 and plan 3 members, means monthly payments to a retiree or beneficiary as provided in this chapter.
(((41)))(42) "Retirement system" means the Washington state teachers' retirement system.
(((42)))(43) "Separation from service or employment" occurs when a person has terminated all employment with an employer. Separation from service or employment does not occur, and if claimed by an employer or employee may be a violation of RCW 41.32.055, when an employee and employer have a written or oral agreement to resume employment with the same employer following termination. Mere expressions or inquiries about postretirement employment by an employer or employee that do not constitute a commitment to reemploy the employee after retirement are not an agreement under this section.
(((43)))(44)(a) "Service" for plan 1 members means the time during which a member has been employed by an employer for compensation.
(i) If a member is employed by two or more employers the individual shall receive no more than one service credit month during any calendar month in which multiple service is rendered.
(ii) As authorized by RCW 28A.400.300, up to forty-five days of sick leave may be creditable as service solely for the purpose of determining eligibility to retire under RCW 41.32.470.
(iii) As authorized in RCW 41.32.065, service earned in an out-of-state retirement system that covers teachers in public schools may be applied solely for the purpose of determining eligibility to retire under RCW 41.32.470.
(b) "Service" for plan 2 and plan 3 members, means periods of employment by a member for one or more employers for which earnable compensation is earned subject to the following conditions:
(i) A member employed in an eligible position or as a substitute shall receive one service credit month for each month of September through August of the following year if he or she earns earnable compensation for eight hundred ten or more hours during that period and is employed during nine of those months, except that a member may not receive credit for any period prior to the member's employment in an eligible position except as provided in RCW 41.32.812 and 41.50.132.
(ii) Any other member employed in an eligible position or as a substitute who earns earnable compensation during the period from September through August shall receive service credit according to one of the following methods, whichever provides the most service credit to the member:
(A) If a member is employed either in an eligible position or as a substitute teacher for nine months of the twelve-month period between September through August of the following year but earns earnable compensation for less than eight hundred ten hours but for at least six hundred thirty hours, he or she will receive one-half of a service credit month for each month of the twelve-month period;
(B) If a member is employed in an eligible position or as a substitute teacher for at least five months of a six-month period between September through August of the following year and earns earnable compensation for six hundred thirty or more hours within the six-month period, he or she will receive a maximum of six service credit months for the school year, which shall be recorded as one service credit month for each month of the six-month period;
(C) All other members employed in an eligible position or as a substitute teacher shall receive service credit as follows:
(I) A service credit month is earned in those calendar months where earnable compensation is earned for ninety or more hours;
(II) A half-service credit month is earned in those calendar months where earnable compensation is earned for at least seventy hours but less than ninety hours; and
(III) A quarter-service credit month is earned in those calendar months where earnable compensation is earned for less than seventy hours.
(iii) Any person who is a member of the teachers' retirement system and who is elected or appointed to a state elective position may continue to be a member of the retirement system and continue to receive a service credit month for each of the months in a state elective position by making the required member contributions.
(iv) When an individual is employed by two or more employers the individual shall only receive one month's service credit during any calendar month in which multiple service for ninety or more hours is rendered.
(v) As authorized by RCW 28A.400.300, up to forty-five days of sick leave may be creditable as service solely for the purpose of determining eligibility to retire under RCW 41.32.470. For purposes of plan 2 and plan 3 "forty-five days" as used in RCW 28A.400.300 is equal to two service credit months. Use of less than forty-five days of sick leave is creditable as allowed under this subsection as follows:
(A) Less than eleven days equals one-quarter service credit month;
(B) Eleven or more days but less than twenty-two days equals one-half service credit month;
(C) Twenty-two days equals one service credit month;
(D) More than twenty-two days but less than thirty-three days equals one and one-quarter service credit month;
(E) Thirty-three or more days but less than forty-five days equals one and one-half service credit month.
(vi) As authorized in RCW 41.32.065, service earned in an out-of-state retirement system that covers teachers in public schools may be applied solely for the purpose of determining eligibility to retire under RCW 41.32.470.
(vii) The department shall adopt rules implementing this subsection.
(((44)))(45) "Service credit month" means a full service credit month or an accumulation of partial service credit months that are equal to one.
(((45)))(46) "Service credit year" means an accumulation of months of service credit which is equal to one when divided by twelve.
(((46)))(47) "State actuary" or "actuary" means the person appointed pursuant to RCW 44.44.010(2).
(((47)))(48) "State elective position" means any position held by any person elected or appointed to statewide office or elected or appointed as a member of the legislature.
(((48)))(49) "Substitute teacher" means:
(a) A teacher who is hired by an employer to work as a temporary teacher, except for teachers who are annual contract employees of an employer and are guaranteed a minimum number of hours; or
(b) Teachers who either (i) work in ineligible positions for more than one employer or (ii) work in an ineligible position or positions together with an eligible position.
(((49)))(50) "Teacher" means any person qualified to teach who is engaged by a public school in an instructional, administrative, or supervisory capacity. The term includes state, educational service district, and school district superintendents and their assistants and all employees certificated by the superintendent of public instruction; and in addition thereto any full time school doctor who is employed by a public school and renders service of an instructional or educational nature.
Sec. 4. RCW 41.35.010 and 2018 c 257 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter, unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
(1) "Accumulated contributions" means the sum of all contributions standing to the credit of a member in the member's individual account, including any amount paid under RCW 41.50.165(2), together with the regular interest thereon.
(2) "Actuarial equivalent" means a benefit of equal value when computed upon the basis of such mortality and other tables as may be adopted by the director.
(3) "Adjustment ratio" means the value of index A divided by index B.
(4) "Annuity" means payments for life derived from accumulated contributions of a member. All annuities shall be paid in monthly installments.
(5)(a) "Average final compensation" for plan 2 and plan 3 members means the member's average compensation earnable of the highest consecutive sixty months of service credit months prior to such member's retirement, termination, or death. Periods constituting authorized leaves of absence may not be used in the calculation of average final compensation except under RCW 41.40.710(2).
(b) In calculating average final compensation under (a) of this subsection, the department of retirement systems shall include any compensation forgone by a member during the 2011-2013 fiscal biennium as a result of reduced work hours, mandatory leave without pay, temporary layoffs, or reductions to current pay if the reduced compensation is an integral part of the employer's expenditure reduction efforts, as certified by the employer. Reductions to current pay shall not include elimination of previously agreed upon future salary reductions.
(6) "Beneficiary" for plan 2 and plan 3 members means any person in receipt of a retirement allowance or other benefit provided by this chapter resulting from service rendered to an employer by another person.
(7) "Classified employee" means an employee of a school district or an educational service district who is not eligible for membership in the teachers' retirement system established under chapter 41.32 RCW.
(8)(a) "Compensation earnable" for plan 2 and plan 3 members, means salaries or wages earned by a member during a payroll period for personal services, including overtime payments, and shall include wages and salaries deferred under provisions established pursuant to sections 403(b), 414(h), and 457 of the United States internal revenue code, but shall exclude nonmoney maintenance compensation and lump sum or other payments for deferred annual sick leave, unused accumulated vacation, unused accumulated annual leave, or any form of severance pay.
(b) "Compensation earnable" for plan 2 and plan 3 members also includes the following actual or imputed payments, which are not paid for personal services:
(i) Retroactive payments to an individual by an employer on reinstatement of the employee in a position, or payments by an employer to an individual in lieu of reinstatement, which are awarded or granted as the equivalent of the salary or wage which the individual would have earned during a payroll period shall be considered compensation earnable to the extent provided in this subsection, and the individual shall receive the equivalent service credit;
(ii) In any year in which a member serves in the legislature, the member shall have the option of having such member's compensation earnable be the greater of:
(A) The compensation earnable the member would have received had such member not served in the legislature; or
(B) Such member's actual compensation earnable received for nonlegislative public employment and legislative service combined. Any additional contributions to the retirement system required because compensation earnable under (b)(ii)(A) of this subsection is greater than compensation earnable under this (b)(ii)(B) of this subsection shall be paid by the member for both member and employer contributions;
(iii) Assault pay only as authorized by RCW 27.04.100, 72.01.045, and 72.09.240;
(iv) Compensation that a member would have received but for a disability occurring in the line of duty only as authorized by RCW 41.40.038;
(v) Compensation that a member receives due to participation in the leave sharing program only as authorized by RCW 41.04.650 through 41.04.670; and
(vi) Compensation that a member receives for being in standby status. For the purposes of this section, a member is in standby status when not being paid for time actually worked and the employer requires the member to be prepared to report immediately for work, if the need arises, although the need may not arise.
(9) "Department" means the department of retirement systems created in chapter 41.50 RCW.
(10) "Director" means the director of the department.
(11) "Eligible position" means any position that, as defined by the employer, normally requires five or more months of service a year for which regular compensation for at least seventy hours is earned by the occupant thereof. For purposes of this chapter an employer shall not define "position" in such a manner that an employee's monthly work for that employer is divided into more than one position.
(12) "Employee" or "employed" means a person who is providing services for compensation to an employer, unless the person is free from the employer's direction and control over the performance of work. The department shall adopt rules and interpret this subsection consistent with common law.
(13) "Employer," for plan 2 and plan 3 members, means a school district, an educational service district, or tribal school that has chosen to participate in the retirement system and has satisfied the requirements of RCW 28A.715.010(7). Except as otherwise specifically provided in this chapter, "employer" does not include a government contractor. For purposes of this subsection, a "government contractor" is any entity, including a partnership, limited liability company, for-profit or nonprofit corporation, or person, that provides services pursuant to a contract with an employer. The determination whether an employer-employee relationship has been established is not based on the relationship between a government contractor and an employer, but is based solely on the relationship between a government contractor's employee and an employer under this chapter.
(14) "Final compensation" means the annual rate of compensation earnable by a member at the time of termination of employment.
(15) "Index" means, for any calendar year, that year's annual average consumer price index, Seattle, Washington area, for urban wage earners and clerical workers, all items, compiled by the bureau of labor statistics, United States department of labor.
(16) "Index A" means the index for the year prior to the determination of a postretirement adjustment.
(17) "Index B" means the index for the year prior to index A.
(18) "Ineligible position" means any position which does not conform with the requirements set forth in subsection (22) of this section.
(19) "Leave of absence" means the period of time a member is authorized by the employer to be absent from service without being separated from membership.
(20) "Member" means any employee included in the membership of the retirement system, as provided for in RCW 41.35.030.
(21) "Member account" or "member's account" for purposes of plan 3 means the sum of the contributions and earnings on behalf of the member in the defined contribution portion of plan 3.
(22) "Membership service" means all service rendered as a member.
(23) "Pension" means payments for life derived from contributions made by the employer. All pensions shall be paid in monthly installments.
(24) "Period of war" has the meaning defined in section 1 of this act.
(25) "Plan 2" means the Washington school employees' retirement system plan 2 providing the benefits and funding provisions covering persons who first became members of the public employees' retirement system on and after October 1, 1977, and transferred to the Washington school employees' retirement system under RCW 41.40.750.
(((25)))(26) "Plan 3" means the Washington school employees' retirement system plan 3 providing the benefits and funding provisions covering persons who first became members of the system on and after September 1, 2000, or who transfer from plan 2 under RCW 41.35.510.
(((26)))(27) "Regular interest" means such rate as the director may determine.
(((27)))(28) "Retiree" means any person who has begun accruing a retirement allowance or other benefit provided by this chapter resulting from service rendered to an employer while a member.
(((28)))(29) "Retirement" means withdrawal from active service with a retirement allowance as provided by this chapter.
(((29)))(30) "Retirement allowance" for plan 2 and plan 3 members means monthly payments to a retiree or beneficiary as provided in this chapter.
(((30)))(31) "Retirement system" means the Washington school employees' retirement system provided for in this chapter.
(((31)))(32) "Separation from service" occurs when a person has terminated all employment with an employer.
(((32)))(33) "Service" for plan 2 and plan 3 members means periods of employment by a member in an eligible position or positions for one or more employers for which compensation earnable is paid. Compensation earnable earned for ninety or more hours in any calendar month shall constitute one service credit month except as provided in RCW 41.35.180. Compensation earnable earned for at least seventy hours but less than ninety hours in any calendar month shall constitute one-half service credit month of service. Compensation earnable earned for less than seventy hours in any calendar month shall constitute one-quarter service credit month of service. Time spent in standby status, whether compensated or not, is not service.
Any fraction of a year of service shall be taken into account in the computation of such retirement allowance or benefits.
(a) Service in any state elective position shall be deemed to be full-time service.
(b) A member shall receive a total of not more than twelve service credit months of service for such calendar year. If an individual is employed in an eligible position by one or more employers the individual shall receive no more than one service credit month during any calendar month in which multiple service for ninety or more hours is rendered.
(c) For purposes of plan 2 and 3 "forty-five days" as used in RCW 28A.400.300 is equal to two service credit months. Use of less than forty-five days of sick leave is creditable as allowed under this subsection as follows:
(i) Less than eleven days equals one-quarter service credit month;
(ii) Eleven or more days but less than twenty-two days equals one-half service credit month;
(iii) Twenty-two days equals one service credit month;
(iv) More than twenty-two days but less than thirty-three days equals one and one-quarter service credit month; and
(v) Thirty-three or more days but less than forty-five days equals one and one-half service credit month.
(((33)))(34) "Service credit month" means a month or an accumulation of months of service credit which is equal to one.
(((34)))(35) "Service credit year" means an accumulation of months of service credit which is equal to one when divided by twelve.
(((35)))(36) "State actuary" or "actuary" means the person appointed pursuant to RCW 44.44.010(2).
(((36)))(37) "State elective position" means any position held by any person elected or appointed to statewide office or elected or appointed as a member of the legislature.
(((37)))(38) "State treasurer" means the treasurer of the state of Washington.
(((38)))(39) "Substitute employee" means a classified employee who is employed by an employer exclusively as a substitute for an absent employee.
Sec. 5. RCW 41.37.010 and 2019 c 470 s 7 are each amended to read as follows:
The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter, unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
(1) "Accumulated contributions" means the sum of all contributions standing to the credit of a member in the member's individual account, including any amount paid under RCW 41.50.165(2), together with the regular interest thereon.
(2) "Actuarial equivalent" means a benefit of equal value when computed upon the basis of such mortality and other tables as may be adopted by the director.
(3) "Adjustment ratio" means the value of index A divided by index B.
(4) "Annuity" means payments for life derived from accumulated contributions of a member. All annuities shall be paid in monthly installments.
(5)(a) "Average final compensation" means the member's average compensation earnable of the highest consecutive sixty months of service credit months prior to such member's retirement, termination, or death. Periods constituting authorized leaves of absence may not be used in the calculation of average final compensation except under RCW 41.37.290.
(b) In calculating average final compensation under (a) of this subsection, the department of retirement systems shall include:
(i) Any compensation forgone by a member employed by a state agency or institution during the 2009-2011 fiscal biennium as a result of reduced work hours, mandatory or voluntary leave without pay, temporary reduction in pay implemented prior to December 11, 2010, or temporary layoffs if the reduced compensation is an integral part of the employer's expenditure reduction efforts, as certified by the employer; and
(ii) Any compensation forgone by a member employed by the state or a local government employer during the 2011-2013 fiscal biennium as a result of reduced work hours, mandatory leave without pay, temporary layoffs, or reductions to current pay if the reduced compensation is an integral part of the employer's expenditure reduction efforts, as certified by the employer. Reductions to current pay shall not include elimination of previously agreed upon future salary increases.
(6) "Beneficiary" means any person in receipt of a retirement allowance or other benefit provided by this chapter resulting from service rendered to an employer by another person.
(7)(a) "Compensation earnable" for members, means salaries or wages earned by a member during a payroll period for personal services, including overtime payments, and shall include wages and salaries deferred under provisions established pursuant to sections 403(b), 414(h), and 457 of the United States internal revenue code, but shall exclude nonmoney maintenance compensation and lump sum or other payments for deferred annual sick leave, unused accumulated vacation, unused accumulated annual leave, or any form of severance pay.
(b) "Compensation earnable" for members also includes the following actual or imputed payments, which are not paid for personal services:
(i) Retroactive payments to an individual by an employer on reinstatement of the employee in a position, or payments by an employer to an individual in lieu of reinstatement, which are awarded or granted as the equivalent of the salary or wage which the individual would have earned during a payroll period shall be considered compensation earnable to the extent provided in this subsection, and the individual shall receive the equivalent service credit;
(ii) In any year in which a member serves in the legislature, the member shall have the option of having such member's compensation earnable be the greater of:
(A) The compensation earnable the member would have received had such member not served in the legislature; or
(B) Such member's actual compensation earnable received for nonlegislative public employment and legislative service combined. Any additional contributions to the retirement system required because compensation earnable under (b)(ii)(A) of this subsection is greater than compensation earnable under (b)(ii)(B) of this subsection shall be paid by the member for both member and employer contributions;
(iii) Assault pay only as authorized by RCW 27.04.100, 72.01.045, and 72.09.240;
(iv) Compensation that a member would have received but for a disability occurring in the line of duty only as authorized by RCW 41.37.060;
(v) Compensation that a member receives due to participation in the leave sharing program only as authorized by RCW 41.04.650 through 41.04.670; and
(vi) Compensation that a member receives for being in standby status. For the purposes of this section, a member is in standby status when not being paid for time actually worked and the employer requires the member to be prepared to report immediately for work, if the need arises, although the need may not arise.
(8) "Department" means the department of retirement systems created in chapter 41.50 RCW.
(9) "Director" means the director of the department.
(10) "Eligible position" means any permanent, full-time position included in subsection (19) of this section.
(11) "Employee" or "employed" means a person who is providing services for compensation to an employer, unless the person is free from the employer's direction and control over the performance of work. The department shall adopt rules and interpret this subsection consistent with common law.
(12) "Employer" means the Washington state department of corrections, the Washington state parks and recreation commission, the Washington state gambling commission, the Washington state patrol, the Washington state department of natural resources, the Washington state liquor and cannabis board, the Washington state department of veterans affairs, the Washington state department of children, youth, and families, and the Washington state department of social and health services; any county corrections department; any city corrections department not covered under chapter 41.28 RCW; and any public corrections entity created under RCW 39.34.030 by counties, cities not covered under chapter 41.28 RCW, or both. Except as otherwise specifically provided in this chapter, "employer" does not include a government contractor. For purposes of this subsection, a "government contractor" is any entity, including a partnership, limited liability company, for-profit or nonprofit corporation, or person, that provides services pursuant to a contract with an employer. The determination whether an employer-employee relationship has been established is not based on the relationship between a government contractor and an employer, but is based solely on the relationship between a government contractor's employee and an employer under this chapter.
(13) "Final compensation" means the annual rate of compensation earnable by a member at the time of termination of employment.
(14) "Index" means, for any calendar year, that year's annual average consumer price index, Seattle, Washington area, for urban wage earners and clerical workers, all items, compiled by the bureau of labor statistics, United States department of labor.
(15) "Index A" means the index for the year prior to the determination of a postretirement adjustment.
(16) "Index B" means the index for the year prior to index A.
(17) "Ineligible position" means any position which does not conform with the requirements set forth in subsection (10) of this section.
(18) "Leave of absence" means the period of time a member is authorized by the employer to be absent from service without being separated from membership.
(19) "Member" means any employee employed by an employer on a full-time basis:
(a) Who is in a position that requires completion of a certified criminal justice training course and is authorized by their employer to arrest, conduct criminal investigations, enforce the criminal laws of the state of Washington, and carry a firearm as part of the job;
(b) Whose primary responsibility is to ensure the custody and security of incarcerated or probationary individuals as a corrections officer, probation officer, or jailer;
(c) Who is a limited authority Washington peace officer, as defined in RCW 10.93.020, for an employer;
(d) Whose primary responsibility is to provide nursing care to, or to ensure the custody and safety of, offender, adult probationary, or patient populations; and who is in a position that requires completion of defensive tactics training or de-escalation training; and who is employed by one of the following state institutions or centers operated by the department of social and health services or the department of children, youth, and families:
(i) Juvenile rehabilitation administration institutions, not including community facilities;
(ii) Mental health hospitals;
(iii) Child study and treatment centers; or
(iv) Institutions or residential sites that serve developmentally disabled patients or offenders, except for state-operated living alternatives facilities;
(e) Whose primary responsibility is to provide nursing care to offender and patient populations in institutions and centers operated by the following employers: A city or county corrections department as set forth in subsection (12) of this section, a public corrections entity as set forth in subsection (12) of this section, the Washington state department of corrections, or the Washington state department of veterans affairs; or
(f) Whose primary responsibility is to supervise members eligible under this subsection.
(20) "Membership service" means all service rendered as a member.
(21) "Pension" means payments for life derived from contributions made by the employer. All pensions shall be paid in monthly installments.
(22) "Period of war" has the meaning defined in section 1 of this act.
(23) "Plan" means the Washington public safety employees' retirement system plan 2.
(((23)))(24) "Regular interest" means such rate as the director may determine.
(((24)))(25) "Retiree" means any person who has begun accruing a retirement allowance or other benefit provided by this chapter resulting from service rendered to an employer while a member.
(((25)))(26) "Retirement" means withdrawal from active service with a retirement allowance as provided by this chapter.
(((26)))(27) "Retirement allowance" means monthly payments to a retiree or beneficiary as provided in this chapter.
(((27)))(28) "Retirement system" means the Washington public safety employees' retirement system provided for in this chapter.
(((28)))(29) "Separation from service" occurs when a person has terminated all employment with an employer.
(((29)))(30) "Service" means periods of employment by a member on or after July 1, 2006, for one or more employers for which compensation earnable is paid. Compensation earnable earned for ninety or more hours in any calendar month shall constitute one service credit month. Compensation earnable earned for at least seventy hours but less than ninety hours in any calendar month shall constitute one-half service credit month of service. Compensation earnable earned for less than seventy hours in any calendar month shall constitute one-quarter service credit month of service. Time spent in standby status, whether compensated or not, is not service.
Any fraction of a year of service shall be taken into account in the computation of such retirement allowance or benefits.
(a) Service in any state elective position shall be deemed to be full-time service.
(b) A member shall receive a total of not more than twelve service credit months of service for such calendar year. If an individual is employed in an eligible position by one or more employers the individual shall receive no more than one service credit month during any calendar month in which multiple service for ninety or more hours is rendered.
(((30)))(31) "Service credit month" means a month or an accumulation of months of service credit which is equal to one.
(((31)))(32) "Service credit year" means an accumulation of months of service credit which is equal to one when divided by twelve.
(((32)))(33) "State actuary" or "actuary" means the person appointed pursuant to RCW 44.44.010(2).
(((33)))(34) "State elective position" means any position held by any person elected or appointed to statewide office or elected or appointed as a member of the legislature.
(((34)))(35) "State treasurer" means the treasurer of the state of Washington.
Sec. 6. RCW 41.40.010 and 2012 c 236 s 6 are each amended to read as follows:
As used in this chapter, unless a different meaning is plainly required by the context:
(1) "Accumulated contributions" means the sum of all contributions standing to the credit of a member in the member's individual account, including any amount paid under RCW 41.50.165(2), together with the regular interest thereon.
(2) "Actuarial equivalent" means a benefit of equal value when computed upon the basis of such mortality and other tables as may be adopted by the director.
(3) "Adjustment ratio" means the value of index A divided by index B.
(4) "Annual increase" means, initially, fifty-nine cents per month per year of service which amount shall be increased each July 1st by three percent, rounded to the nearest cent.
(5) "Annuity" means payments for life derived from accumulated contributions of a member. All annuities shall be paid in monthly installments.
(6)(a) "Average final compensation" for plan 1 members, means the annual average of the greatest compensation earnable by a member during any consecutive two year period of service credit months for which service credit is allowed; or if the member has less than two years of service credit months then the annual average compensation earnable during the total years of service for which service credit is allowed.
(b) "Average final compensation" for plan 2 and plan 3 members, means the member's average compensation earnable of the highest consecutive sixty months of service credit months prior to such member's retirement, termination, or death. Periods constituting authorized leaves of absence may not be used in the calculation of average final compensation except under RCW 41.40.710(2) or (c) of this subsection.
(c) In calculating average final compensation under this subsection for a member of plan 1, 2, or 3, the department of retirement systems shall include:
(i) Any compensation forgone by the member during the 2009-2011 fiscal biennium as a result of reduced work hours, voluntary leave without pay, temporary reduction in pay implemented prior to December 11, 2010, or temporary furloughs if the reduced compensation is an integral part of the employer's expenditure reduction efforts, as certified by the employer; and
(ii) Any compensation forgone by a member employed by the state or a local government during the 2011-2013 fiscal biennium as a result of reduced work hours, mandatory leave without pay, temporary layoffs, or reductions to current pay if the reduced compensation is an integral part of the employer's expenditure reduction efforts, as certified by the employer. Reductions to current pay shall not include elimination of previously agreed upon future salary increases.
(7)(a) "Beneficiary" for plan 1 members, means any person in receipt of a retirement allowance, pension or other benefit provided by this chapter.
(b) "Beneficiary" for plan 2 and plan 3 members, means any person in receipt of a retirement allowance or other benefit provided by this chapter resulting from service rendered to an employer by another person.
(8)(a) "Compensation earnable" for plan 1 members, means salaries or wages earned during a payroll period for personal services and where the compensation is not all paid in money, maintenance compensation shall be included upon the basis of the schedules established by the member's employer.
(i) "Compensation earnable" for plan 1 members also includes the following actual or imputed payments, which are not paid for personal services:
(A) Retroactive payments to an individual by an employer on reinstatement of the employee in a position, or payments by an employer to an individual in lieu of reinstatement in a position which are awarded or granted as the equivalent of the salary or wage which the individual would have earned during a payroll period shall be considered compensation earnable and the individual shall receive the equivalent service credit;
(B) If a leave of absence is taken by an individual for the purpose of serving in the state legislature, the salary which would have been received for the position from which the leave of absence was taken, shall be considered as compensation earnable if the employee's contribution is paid by the employee and the employer's contribution is paid by the employer or employee;
(C) Assault pay only as authorized by RCW 27.04.100, 72.01.045, and 72.09.240;
(D) Compensation that a member would have received but for a disability occurring in the line of duty only as authorized by RCW 41.40.038;
(E) Compensation that a member receives due to participation in the leave sharing program only as authorized by RCW 41.04.650 through 41.04.670; and
(F) Compensation that a member receives for being in standby status. For the purposes of this section, a member is in standby status when not being paid for time actually worked and the employer requires the member to be prepared to report immediately for work, if the need arises, although the need may not arise.
(ii) "Compensation earnable" does not include:
(A) Remuneration for unused sick leave authorized under RCW 41.04.340, 28A.400.210, or 28A.310.490;
(B) Remuneration for unused annual leave in excess of thirty days as authorized by RCW 43.01.044 and 43.01.041.
(b) "Compensation earnable" for plan 2 and plan 3 members, means salaries or wages earned by a member during a payroll period for personal services, including overtime payments, and shall include wages and salaries deferred under provisions established pursuant to sections 403(b), 414(h), and 457 of the United States Internal Revenue Code, but shall exclude nonmoney maintenance compensation and lump sum or other payments for deferred annual sick leave, unused accumulated vacation, unused accumulated annual leave, or any form of severance pay.
"Compensation earnable" for plan 2 and plan 3 members also includes the following actual or imputed payments, which are not paid for personal services:
(i) Retroactive payments to an individual by an employer on reinstatement of the employee in a position, or payments by an employer to an individual in lieu of reinstatement in a position which are awarded or granted as the equivalent of the salary or wage which the individual would have earned during a payroll period shall be considered compensation earnable to the extent provided above, and the individual shall receive the equivalent service credit;
(ii) In any year in which a member serves in the legislature, the member shall have the option of having such member's compensation earnable be the greater of:
(A) The compensation earnable the member would have received had such member not served in the legislature; or
(B) Such member's actual compensation earnable received for nonlegislative public employment and legislative service combined. Any additional contributions to the retirement system required because compensation earnable under (b)(ii)(A) of this subsection is greater than compensation earnable under (b)(ii)(B) of this subsection shall be paid by the member for both member and employer contributions;
(iii) Assault pay only as authorized by RCW 27.04.100, 72.01.045, and 72.09.240;
(iv) Compensation that a member would have received but for a disability occurring in the line of duty only as authorized by RCW 41.40.038;
(v) Compensation that a member receives due to participation in the leave sharing program only as authorized by RCW 41.04.650 through 41.04.670; and
(vi) Compensation that a member receives for being in standby status. For the purposes of this section, a member is in standby status when not being paid for time actually worked and the employer requires the member to be prepared to report immediately for work, if the need arises, although the need may not arise.
(9) "Department" means the department of retirement systems created in chapter 41.50 RCW.
(10) "Director" means the director of the department.
(11) "Eligible position" means:
(a) Any position that, as defined by the employer, normally requires five or more months of service a year for which regular compensation for at least seventy hours is earned by the occupant thereof. For purposes of this chapter an employer shall not define "position" in such a manner that an employee's monthly work for that employer is divided into more than one position;
(b) Any position occupied by an elected official or person appointed directly by the governor, or appointed by the chief justice of the supreme court under RCW 2.04.240(2) or 2.06.150(2), for which compensation is paid.
(12) "Employee" or "employed" means a person who is providing services for compensation to an employer, unless the person is free from the employer's direction and control over the performance of work. The department shall adopt rules and interpret this subsection consistent with common law.
(13)(a) "Employer" for plan 1 members, means every branch, department, agency, commission, board, and office of the state, any political subdivision or association of political subdivisions of the state admitted into the retirement system, and legal entities authorized by RCW 35.63.070 and 36.70.060 or chapter 39.34 RCW; and the term shall also include any labor guild, association, or organization the membership of a local lodge or division of which is comprised of at least forty percent employees of an employer (other than such labor guild, association, or organization) within this chapter. The term may also include any city of the first class that has its own retirement system.
(b) "Employer" for plan 2 and plan 3 members, means every branch, department, agency, commission, board, and office of the state, and any political subdivision and municipal corporation of the state admitted into the retirement system, including public agencies created pursuant to RCW 35.63.070, 36.70.060, and 39.34.030; except that after August 31, 2000, school districts and educational service districts will no longer be employers for the public employees' retirement system plan 2.
(c) Except as otherwise specifically provided in this chapter, "employer" does not include a government contractor. For purposes of this subsection, a "government contractor" is any entity, including a partnership, limited liability company, for-profit or nonprofit corporation, or person, that provides services pursuant to a contract with an "employer." The determination whether an employer-employee relationship has been established is not based on the relationship between a government contractor and an "employer," but is based solely on the relationship between a government contractor's employee and an "employer" under this chapter.
(14) "Final compensation" means the annual rate of compensation earnable by a member at the time of termination of employment.
(15) "Index" means, for any calendar year, that year's annual average consumer price index, Seattle, Washington area, for urban wage earners and clerical workers, all items, compiled by the bureau of labor statistics, United States department of labor.
(16) "Index A" means the index for the year prior to the determination of a postretirement adjustment.
(17) "Index B" means the index for the year prior to index A.
(18) "Index year" means the earliest calendar year in which the index is more than sixty percent of index A.
(19) "Ineligible position" means any position which does not conform with the requirements set forth in subsection (11) of this section.
(20) "Leave of absence" means the period of time a member is authorized by the employer to be absent from service without being separated from membership.
(21) "Member" means any employee included in the membership of the retirement system, as provided for in RCW 41.40.023. RCW 41.26.045 does not prohibit a person otherwise eligible for membership in the retirement system from establishing such membership effective when he or she first entered an eligible position.
(22) "Member account" or "member's account" for purposes of plan 3 means the sum of the contributions and earnings on behalf of the member in the defined contribution portion of plan 3.
(23) "Membership service" means:
(a) All service rendered, as a member, after October 1, 1947;
(b) All service after October 1, 1947, to any employer prior to the time of its admission into the retirement system for which member and employer contributions, plus interest as required by RCW 41.50.125, have been paid under RCW 41.40.056 or 41.40.057;
(c) Service not to exceed six consecutive months of probationary service rendered after April 1, 1949, and prior to becoming a member, in the case of any member, upon payment in full by such member of the total amount of the employer's contribution to the retirement fund which would have been required under the law in effect when such probationary service was rendered if the member had been a member during such period, except that the amount of the employer's contribution shall be calculated by the director based on the first month's compensation earnable as a member;
(d) Service not to exceed six consecutive months of probationary service, rendered after October 1, 1947, and before April 1, 1949, and prior to becoming a member, in the case of any member, upon payment in full by such member of five percent of such member's salary during said period of probationary service, except that the amount of the employer's contribution shall be calculated by the director based on the first month's compensation earnable as a member.
(24) "New member" means a person who becomes a member on or after April 1, 1949, except as otherwise provided in this section.
(25) "Original member" of this retirement system means:
(a) Any person who became a member of the system prior to April 1, 1949;
(b) Any person who becomes a member through the admission of an employer into the retirement system on and after April 1, 1949, and prior to April 1, 1951;
(c) Any person who first becomes a member by securing employment with an employer prior to April 1, 1951, provided the member has rendered at least one or more years of service to any employer prior to October 1, 1947;
(d) Any person who first becomes a member through the admission of an employer into the retirement system on or after April 1, 1951, provided, such person has been in the regular employ of the employer for at least six months of the twelve-month period preceding the said admission date;
(e) Any member who has restored all contributions that may have been withdrawn as provided by RCW 41.40.150 and who on the effective date of the individual's retirement becomes entitled to be credited with ten years or more of membership service except that the provisions relating to the minimum amount of retirement allowance for the member upon retirement at age seventy as found in RCW 41.40.190(4) shall not apply to the member;
(f) Any member who has been a contributor under the system for two or more years and who has restored all contributions that may have been withdrawn as provided by RCW 41.40.150 and who on the effective date of the individual's retirement has rendered five or more years of service for the state or any political subdivision prior to the time of the admission of the employer into the system; except that the provisions relating to the minimum amount of retirement allowance for the member upon retirement at age seventy as found in RCW 41.40.190(4) shall not apply to the member.
(26) "Pension" means payments for life derived from contributions made by the employer. All pensions shall be paid in monthly installments.
(27) "Period of war" has the meaning defined in section 1 of this act.
(28) "Plan 1" means the public employees' retirement system, plan 1 providing the benefits and funding provisions covering persons who first became members of the system prior to October 1, 1977.
(((28)))(29) "Plan 2" means the public employees' retirement system, plan 2 providing the benefits and funding provisions covering persons who first became members of the system on and after October 1, 1977, and are not included in plan 3.
(((29)))(30) "Plan 3" means the public employees' retirement system, plan 3 providing the benefits and funding provisions covering persons who:
(a) First become a member on or after:
(i) March 1, 2002, and are employed by a state agency or institute of higher education and who did not choose to enter plan 2; or
(ii) September 1, 2002, and are employed by other than a state agency or institute of higher education and who did not choose to enter plan 2; or
(b) Transferred to plan 3 under RCW 41.40.795.
(((30)))(31) "Prior service" means all service of an original member rendered to any employer prior to October 1, 1947.
(((31)))(32) "Regular interest" means such rate as the director may determine.
(((32)))(33) "Retiree" means any person who has begun accruing a retirement allowance or other benefit provided by this chapter resulting from service rendered to an employer while a member.
(((33)))(34) "Retirement" means withdrawal from active service with a retirement allowance as provided by this chapter.
(((34)))(35) "Retirement allowance" means the sum of the annuity and the pension.
(((35)))(36) "Retirement system" means the public employees' retirement system provided for in this chapter.
(((36)))(37) "Separation from service" occurs when a person has terminated all employment with an employer. Separation from service or employment does not occur, and if claimed by an employer or employee may be a violation of RCW 41.40.055, when an employee and employer have a written or oral agreement to resume employment with the same employer following termination. Mere expressions or inquiries about postretirement employment by an employer or employee that do not constitute a commitment to reemploy the employee after retirement are not an agreement under this subsection.
(((37)))(38)(a) "Service" for plan 1 members, except as provided in RCW 41.40.088, means periods of employment in an eligible position or positions for one or more employers rendered to any employer for which compensation is paid, and includes time spent in office as an elected or appointed official of an employer. Compensation earnable earned in full time work for seventy hours or more in any given calendar month shall constitute one service credit month except as provided in RCW 41.40.088. Compensation earnable earned for less than seventy hours in any calendar month shall constitute one-quarter service credit month of service except as provided in RCW 41.40.088. Only service credit months and one-quarter service credit months shall be counted in the computation of any retirement allowance or other benefit provided for in this chapter. Any fraction of a year of service shall be taken into account in the computation of such retirement allowance or benefits. Time spent in standby status, whether compensated or not, is not service.
(i) Service by a state employee officially assigned by the state on a temporary basis to assist another public agency, shall be considered as service as a state employee: PROVIDED, That service to any other public agency shall not be considered service as a state employee if such service has been used to establish benefits in any other public retirement system.
(ii) An individual shall receive no more than a total of twelve service credit months of service during any calendar year. If an individual is employed in an eligible position by one or more employers the individual shall receive no more than one service credit month during any calendar month in which multiple service for seventy or more hours is rendered.
(iii) A school district employee may count up to forty-five days of sick leave as creditable service solely for the purpose of determining eligibility to retire under RCW 41.40.180 as authorized by RCW 28A.400.300. For purposes of plan 1 "forty-five days" as used in RCW 28A.400.300 is equal to two service credit months. Use of less than forty-five days of sick leave is creditable as allowed under this subsection as follows:
(A) Less than twenty-two days equals one-quarter service credit month;
(B) Twenty-two days equals one service credit month;
(C) More than twenty-two days but less than forty-five days equals one and one-quarter service credit month.
(b) "Service" for plan 2 and plan 3 members, means periods of employment by a member in an eligible position or positions for one or more employers for which compensation earnable is paid. Compensation earnable earned for ninety or more hours in any calendar month shall constitute one service credit month except as provided in RCW 41.40.088. Compensation earnable earned for at least seventy hours but less than ninety hours in any calendar month shall constitute one-half service credit month of service. Compensation earnable earned for less than seventy hours in any calendar month shall constitute one-quarter service credit month of service. Time spent in standby status, whether compensated or not, is not service.
Any fraction of a year of service shall be taken into account in the computation of such retirement allowance or benefits.
(i) Service in any state elective position shall be deemed to be full time service, except that persons serving in state elective positions who are members of the Washington school employees' retirement system, teachers' retirement system, public safety employees' retirement system, or law enforcement officers' and firefighters' retirement system at the time of election or appointment to such position may elect to continue membership in the Washington school employees' retirement system, teachers' retirement system, public safety employees' retirement system, or law enforcement officers' and firefighters' retirement system.
(ii) A member shall receive a total of not more than twelve service credit months of service for such calendar year. If an individual is employed in an eligible position by one or more employers the individual shall receive no more than one service credit month during any calendar month in which multiple service for ninety or more hours is rendered.
(iii) Up to forty-five days of sick leave may be creditable as service solely for the purpose of determining eligibility to retire under RCW 41.40.180 as authorized by RCW 28A.400.300. For purposes of plan 2 and plan 3 "forty-five days" as used in RCW 28A.400.300 is equal to two service credit months. Use of less than forty-five days of sick leave is creditable as allowed under this subsection as follows:
(A) Less than eleven days equals one-quarter service credit month;
(B) Eleven or more days but less than twenty-two days equals one-half service credit month;
(C) Twenty-two days equals one service credit month;
(D) More than twenty-two days but less than thirty-three days equals one and one-quarter service credit month;
(E) Thirty-three or more days but less than forty-five days equals one and one-half service credit month.
(((38)))(39) "Service credit month" means a month or an accumulation of months of service credit which is equal to one.
(((39)))(40) "Service credit year" means an accumulation of months of service credit which is equal to one when divided by twelve.
(((40)))(41) "State actuary" or "actuary" means the person appointed pursuant to RCW 44.44.010(2).
(((41)))(42) "State elective position" means any position held by any person elected or appointed to statewide office or elected or appointed as a member of the legislature.
(((42)))(43) "State treasurer" means the treasurer of the state of Washington.
(((43)))(44) "Totally incapacitated for duty" means total inability to perform the duties of a member's employment or office or any other work for which the member is qualified by training or experience.
Sec. 7. RCW 43.43.120 and 2017 c 181 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
As used in this section and RCW 43.43.130 through 43.43.320, unless a different meaning is plainly required by the context:
(1) "Actuarial equivalent" shall mean a benefit of equal value when computed upon the basis of such mortality table as may be adopted and such interest rate as may be determined by the director.
(2) "Annual increase" means as of July 1, 1999, seventy-seven cents per month per year of service which amount shall be increased each subsequent July 1st by three percent, rounded to the nearest cent.
(3)(a) "Average final salary," for members commissioned prior to January 1, 2003, shall mean the average monthly salary received by a member during the member's last two years of service or any consecutive two-year period of service, whichever is the greater, as an employee of the Washington state patrol; or if the member has less than two years of service, then the average monthly salary received by the member during the member's total years of service.
(b) "Average final salary," for members commissioned on or after January 1, 2003, shall mean the average monthly salary received by a member for the highest consecutive sixty service credit months; or if the member has less than sixty months of service, then the average monthly salary received by the member during the member's total months of service.
(c) In calculating average final salary under (a) or (b) of this subsection, the department of retirement systems shall include:
(i) Any compensation forgone by the member during the 2009-2011 fiscal biennium as a result of reduced work hours, mandatory or voluntary leave without pay, temporary reduction in pay implemented prior to December 11, 2010, or temporary layoffs if the reduced compensation is an integral part of the employer's expenditure reduction efforts, as certified by the chief; and
(ii) Any compensation forgone by a member during the 2011-2013 fiscal biennium as a result of reduced work hours, mandatory leave without pay, temporary layoffs, or reductions to current pay if the reduced compensation is an integral part of the employer's expenditure reduction efforts, as certified by the chief. Reductions to current pay shall not include elimination of previously agreed upon future salary reductions.
(4) "Beneficiary" means any person in receipt of retirement allowance or any other benefit allowed by this chapter.
(5)(a) "Cadet," for a person who became a member of the retirement system after June 12, 1980, is a person who has passed the Washington state patrol's entry-level oral, written, physical performance, and background examinations and is, thereby, appointed by the chief as a candidate to be a commissioned officer of the Washington state patrol.
(b) "Cadet," for a person who became a member of the retirement system before June 12, 1980, is a trooper cadet, patrol cadet, or employee of like classification, employed for the express purpose of receiving the on-the-job training required for attendance at the state patrol academy and for becoming a commissioned trooper. "Like classification" includes: Radio operators or dispatchers; persons providing security for the governor or legislature; patrol officers; drivers' license examiners; weighmasters; vehicle safety inspectors; central wireless operators; and warehouse workers.
(6) "Contributions" means the deduction from the compensation of each member in accordance with the contribution rates established under chapter 41.45 RCW.
(7) "Current service" shall mean all service as a member rendered on or after August 1, 1947.
(8) "Department" means the department of retirement systems created in chapter 41.50 RCW.
(9) "Director" means the director of the department of retirement systems.
(10) "Domestic partners" means two adults who have registered as domestic partners under RCW 26.60.040.
(11) "Employee" means any commissioned employee of the Washington state patrol.
(12) "Insurance commissioner" means the insurance commissioner of the state of Washington.
(13) "Lieutenant governor" means the lieutenant governor of the state of Washington.
(14) "Member" means any person included in the membership of the retirement fund.
(15) "Period of war" has the meaning defined in section 1 of this act.
(16) "Plan 2" means the Washington state patrol retirement system plan 2, providing the benefits and funding provisions covering commissioned employees who first become members of the system on or after January 1, 2003.
(((16)))(17) "Prior service" shall mean all services rendered by a member to the state of Washington, or any of its political subdivisions prior to August 1, 1947, unless such service has been credited in another public retirement or pension system operating in the state of Washington.
(((17)))(18) "Regular interest" means interest compounded annually at such rates as may be determined by the director.
(((18)))(19) "Retirement board" means the board provided for in this chapter.
(((19)))(20) "Retirement fund" means the Washington state patrol retirement fund.
(((20)))(21) "Retirement system" means the Washington state patrol retirement system.
(((21)))(22)(a) "Salary," for members commissioned prior to July 1, 2001, shall exclude any overtime earnings related to RCW 47.46.040, or any voluntary overtime, earned on or after July 1, 2001, and prior to July 1, 2017. On or after July 1, 2017, salary shall exclude overtime earnings in excess of seventy hours per year in total related to either RCW 47.46.040 or any voluntary overtime.
(b) "Salary," for members commissioned on or after July 1, 2001, shall exclude any overtime earnings related to RCW 47.46.040 or any voluntary overtime, earned prior to July 1, 2017, lump sum payments for deferred annual sick leave, unused accumulated vacation, unused accumulated annual leave, holiday pay, or any form of severance pay. On or after July 1, 2017, salary shall exclude overtime earnings in excess of seventy hours per year in total related to either RCW 47.46.040 or any voluntary overtime.
(c) The addition of overtime earnings related to RCW 47.46.040 or any voluntary overtime earned on or after July 1, 2017, in chapter 181, Laws of 2017 is a benefit improvement that increases the member maximum contribution rate under RCW 41.45.0631(1) by 1.10 percent.
(((22)))(23) "Service" shall mean services rendered to the state of Washington or any political subdivisions thereof for which compensation has been paid. Full time employment for seventy or more hours in any given calendar month shall constitute one month of service. An employee who is reinstated in accordance with RCW 43.43.110 shall suffer no loss of service for the period reinstated subject to the contribution requirements of this chapter. Only months of service shall be counted in the computation of any retirement allowance or other benefit provided for herein. Years of service shall be determined by dividing the total number of months of service by twelve. Any fraction of a year of service as so determined shall be taken into account in the computation of such retirement allowance or benefit.
(((23)))(24) "State actuary" or "actuary" means the person appointed pursuant to RCW 44.44.010(2).
(((24)))(25) "State treasurer" means the treasurer of the state of Washington.
Unless the context expressly indicates otherwise, words importing the masculine gender shall be extended to include the feminine gender and words importing the feminine gender shall be extended to include the masculine gender.
Sec. 8. RCW 41.26.160 and 2009 c 226 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) In the event of the duty connected death of any member who is in active service, or who has vested under the provisions of RCW 41.26.090 with twenty or more service credit years of service, or who is on duty connected disability leave or retired for duty connected disability, or upon the death of a member who has left the employ of an employer due to service in the national guard or military reserves and dies while honorably serving in the national guard or military reserves during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)), the surviving spouse shall become entitled, subject to RCW 41.26.162, to receive a monthly allowance equal to fifty percent of the final average salary at the date of death if active, or the amount of retirement allowance the vested member would have received at age fifty, or the amount of the retirement allowance such retired member was receiving at the time of death if retired for duty connected disability. The amount of this allowance will be increased five percent of final average salary for each child as defined in RCW 41.26.030(((7))), subject to a maximum combined allowance of sixty percent of final average salary: PROVIDED, That if the child or children is or are in the care of a legal guardian, payment of the increase attributable to each child will be made to the child's legal guardian or, in the absence of a legal guardian and if the member has created a trust for the benefit of the child or children, payment of the increase attributable to each child will be made to the trust.
(2) If at the time of the duty connected death of a vested member with twenty or more service credit years of service as provided in subsection (1) of this section or a member retired for duty connected disability, or at the time of the death of a member who has left the employ of an employer due to service in the national guard or military reserves and dies while honorably serving in the national guard or military reserves during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)), the surviving spouse has not been lawfully married to such member for one year prior to retirement or separation from service if a vested member, the surviving spouse shall not be eligible to receive the benefits under this section: PROVIDED, That if a member dies as a result of a disability incurred in the line of duty or while honorably serving in the national guard or military reserves during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)), then if he or she was married at the time he or she was disabled or left the employ of an employer due to service in the national guard or military reserves during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)), the surviving spouse shall be eligible to receive the benefits under this section.
(3) If there be no surviving spouse eligible to receive benefits at the time of such member's duty connected death, then the child or children of such member shall receive a monthly allowance equal to thirty percent of final average salary for one child and an additional ten percent for each additional child subject to a maximum combined payment, under this subsection, of sixty percent of final average salary. When there cease to be any eligible children as defined in RCW 41.26.030(((7))), there shall be paid to the legal heirs of the member the excess, if any, of accumulated contributions of the member at the time of death over all payments made to survivors on his or her behalf under this chapter: PROVIDED, That payments under this subsection to children shall be prorated equally among the children, if more than one. If the member has created a trust for the benefit of the child or children, the payment shall be made to the trust.
(4) In the event that there is no surviving spouse eligible to receive benefits under this section, and that there be no child or children eligible to receive benefits under this section, then the accumulated contributions shall be paid to the estate of the member.
(5) If a surviving spouse receiving benefits under this section remarries after June 13, 2002, the surviving spouse shall continue to receive the benefits under this section.
(6) If a surviving spouse receiving benefits under the provisions of this section thereafter dies and there are children as defined in RCW 41.26.030(((7))), payment to the spouse shall cease and the child or children shall receive the benefits as provided in subsection (3) of this section.
(7) The payment provided by this section shall become due the day following the date of death and payments shall be retroactive to that date.
Sec. 9. RCW 41.26.510 and 2016 c 115 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) Except as provided in RCW 11.07.010, if a member or a vested member who has not completed at least ten years of service dies, the amount of the accumulated contributions standing to such member's credit in the retirement system at the time of such member's death, less any amount identified as owing to an obligee upon withdrawal of accumulated contributions pursuant to a court order filed under RCW 41.50.670, shall be paid to the member's estate, or such person or persons, trust, or organization as the member shall have nominated by written designation duly executed and filed with the department. If there be no such designated person or persons still living at the time of the member's death, such member's accumulated contributions standing to such member's credit in the retirement system, less any amount identified as owing to an obligee upon withdrawal of accumulated contributions pursuant to a court order filed under RCW 41.50.670, shall be paid to the member's surviving spouse or domestic partner as if in fact such spouse or domestic partner had been nominated by written designation, or if there be no such surviving spouse or domestic partner, then to such member's legal representatives.
(2) Except as provided in subsection (4) of this section, if a member who is killed in the course of employment or a member who is eligible for retirement or a member who has completed at least ten years of service dies, the surviving spouse, domestic partner, or eligible child or children shall elect to receive either:
(a) A retirement allowance computed as provided for in RCW 41.26.430, actuarially reduced by the amount of any lump sum benefit identified as owing to an obligee upon withdrawal of accumulated contributions pursuant to a court order filed under RCW 41.50.670 and actuarially adjusted to reflect a joint and one hundred percent survivor option under RCW 41.26.460 and if the member was not eligible for normal retirement at the date of death a further reduction as described in RCW 41.26.430; if a surviving spouse or domestic partner who is receiving a retirement allowance dies leaving a child or children of the member under the age of majority, then such child or children shall continue to receive an allowance in an amount equal to that which was being received by the surviving spouse or domestic partner, share and share alike, until such child or children reach the age of majority; if there is no surviving spouse or domestic partner eligible to receive an allowance at the time of the member's death, such member's child or children under the age of majority shall receive an allowance share and share alike calculated as herein provided making the assumption that the ages of the spouse or domestic partner and member were equal at the time of the member's death; or
(b)(i) The member's accumulated contributions, less any amount identified as owing to an obligee upon withdrawal of accumulated contributions pursuant to a court order filed under RCW 41.50.670; or
(ii) If the member dies on or after July 25, 1993, one hundred fifty percent of the member's accumulated contributions, less any amount identified as owing to an obligee upon withdrawal of accumulated contributions pursuant to a court order filed under RCW 41.50.670. Any accumulated contributions attributable to restorations made under RCW 41.50.165(2) shall be refunded at one hundred percent.
(3) If a member who is eligible for retirement or a member who has completed at least ten years of service dies after October 1, 1977, and is not survived by a spouse, domestic partner, or an eligible child, then the accumulated contributions standing to the member's credit, less any amount identified as owing to an obligee upon withdrawal of accumulated contributions pursuant to a court order filed under RCW 41.50.670, shall be paid:
(a) To an estate, a person or persons, trust, or organization as the member shall have nominated by written designation duly executed and filed with the department; or
(b) If there is no such designated person or persons still living at the time of the member's death, then to the member's legal representatives.
(4) The retirement allowance of a member:
(a) Who is killed in the course of employment, as determined by the director of the department of labor and industries,
(b) Who has left the employ of an employer due to service in the national guard or military reserves and dies while honorably serving in the national guard or military reserves during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)), or
(c) Who has left the employ of an employer due to service in the national guard, military reserves, federal emergency management agency, or national disaster medical system of the United States department of health and human services and dies while performing service in response to a disaster, major emergency, special event, federal exercise, or official training on or after March 22, 2014,
is not subject to an actuarial reduction for early retirement as provided in RCW 41.26.430 or an actuarial reduction to reflect a joint and one hundred percent survivor option under RCW 41.26.460. The member's retirement allowance is computed under RCW 41.26.420, except that the member shall be entitled to a minimum retirement allowance equal to ten percent of such member's final average salary. The member shall additionally receive a retirement allowance equal to two percent of such member's average final salary for each year of service beyond five.
(5) The retirement allowance paid to the spouse or domestic partner and dependent children of a member who is killed in the course of employment, as set forth in RCW 41.05.011(5), shall include reimbursement for any payments of premium rates to the Washington state health care authority pursuant to RCW 41.05.080.
(6) In addition to the benefits provided in subsection (4) of this section, if the surviving spouse or domestic partner of a member who is killed in the course of employment is not eligible to receive industrial insurance payments pursuant to RCW 51.32.050 due to remarriage, the surviving spouse or domestic partner shall receive an amount equal to the benefit they would receive pursuant to RCW 51.32.050 but for the remarriage. This subsection applies to surviving spouses and domestic partners whose benefits pursuant to RCW 51.32.050 were suspended or terminated due to remarriage prior to July 24, 2015. The monthly payments to any surviving spouse or domestic partner who received a lump sum payment pursuant to RCW 51.32.050 shall be actuarially reduced to reflect the amount of the lump sum payment.
Sec. 10. RCW 41.26.520 and 2016 c 115 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) A member who is on a paid leave of absence authorized by a member's employer shall continue to receive service credit as provided for under the provisions of RCW 41.26.410 through 41.26.550.
(2) A member who receives compensation from an employer while on an authorized leave of absence to serve as an elected official of a labor organization, and whose employer is reimbursed by the labor organization for the compensation paid to the member during the period of absence, may also be considered to be on a paid leave of absence. This subsection shall only apply if the member's leave of absence is authorized by a collective bargaining agreement that provides that the member retains seniority rights with the employer during the period of leave. The basic salary reported for a member who establishes service credit under this subsection may not be greater than the salary paid to the highest paid job class covered by the collective bargaining agreement.
(3) Except as specified in subsection (7) of this section, a member shall be eligible to receive a maximum of two years service credit during a member's entire working career for those periods when a member is on an unpaid leave of absence authorized by an employer. Such credit may be obtained only if the member makes the employer, member, and state contributions plus interest as determined by the department for the period of the authorized leave of absence within five years of resumption of service or prior to retirement whichever comes sooner.
(4) A law enforcement member may be authorized by an employer to work part time and to go on a part-time leave of absence. During a part-time leave of absence a member is prohibited from any other employment with their employer. A member is eligible to receive credit for any portion of service credit not earned during a month of part-time leave of absence if the member makes the employer, member, and state contributions, plus interest, as determined by the department for the period of the authorized leave within five years of resumption of full-time service or prior to retirement whichever comes sooner. Any service credit purchased for a part-time leave of absence is included in the two-year maximum provided in subsection (3) of this section.
(5) If a member fails to meet the time limitations of subsection (3) or (4) of this section, the member may receive a maximum of two years of service credit during a member's working career for those periods when a member is on unpaid leave of absence authorized by an employer. This may be done by paying the amount required under RCW 41.50.165(2) prior to retirement.
(6) For the purpose of subsection (3) or (4) of this section the contribution shall not include the contribution for the unfunded supplemental present value as required by RCW 41.45.060, 41.45.061, and 41.45.067. The contributions required shall be based on the average of the member's basic salary at both the time the authorized leave of absence was granted and the time the member resumed employment.
(7) A member who leaves the employ of an employer to enter the uniformed services of the United States shall be entitled to retirement system service credit for up to five years of military service. This subsection shall be administered in a manner consistent with the requirements of the federal uniformed services employment and reemployment rights act.
(a) The member qualifies for service credit under this subsection if:
(i) Within ninety days of the member's honorable discharge from the uniformed services of the United States, the member applies for reemployment with the employer who employed the member immediately prior to the member entering the uniformed services; and
(ii) The member makes the employee contributions required under RCW 41.45.060, 41.45.061, and 41.45.067 within five years of resumption of service or prior to retirement, whichever comes sooner; or
(iii) Prior to retirement and not within ninety days of the member's honorable discharge or five years of resumption of service the member pays the amount required under RCW 41.50.165(2); or
(iv) Prior to retirement the member provides to the director proof that the member's interruptive military service was during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)). Any member who made payments for service credit for interruptive military service during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)) may, prior to retirement and on a form provided by the department, request a refund of the funds standing to his or her credit for up to five years of such service, and this amount shall be paid to him or her. Members with one or more periods of interruptive military service credit during a period of war may receive no more than five years of free retirement system service credit under this subsection.
(b) Upon receipt of member contributions under (a)(ii), (d)(iii), or (e)(iii) of this subsection, or adequate proof under (a)(iv), (d)(iv), or (e)(iv) of this subsection, the department shall establish the member's service credit and shall bill the employer and the state for their respective contributions required under RCW 41.26.450 for the period of military service, plus interest as determined by the department.
(c) The contributions required under (a)(ii), (d)(iii), or (e)(iii) of this subsection shall be based on the compensation the member would have earned if not on leave, or if that cannot be estimated with reasonable certainty, the compensation reported for the member in the year prior to when the member went on military leave.
(d) The surviving spouse, domestic partner, or eligible child or children of a member who left the employ of an employer to enter the uniformed services of the United States and died while serving in the uniformed services may, on behalf of the deceased member, apply for retirement system service credit under this subsection up to the date of the member's death in the uniformed services. The department shall establish the deceased member's service credit if the surviving spouse or eligible child or children:
(i) Provides to the director proof of the member's death while serving in the uniformed services;
(ii) Provides to the director proof of the member's honorable service in the uniformed services prior to the date of death; and
(iii) Pays the employee contributions required under chapter 41.45 RCW within five years of the date of death or prior to the distribution of any benefit, whichever comes first; or
(iv) Prior to the distribution of any benefit, provides to the director proof that the member's interruptive military service was during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)). If the deceased member made payments for service credit for interruptive military service during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)), the surviving spouse or eligible child or children may, prior to the distribution of any benefit and on a form provided by the department, request a refund of the funds standing to the deceased member's credit for up to five years of such service, and this amount shall be paid to the surviving spouse or children. Members with one or more periods of interruptive military service during a period of war may receive no more than five years of free retirement system service credit under this subsection.
(e) A member who leaves the employ of an employer to enter the uniformed services of the United States and becomes totally incapacitated for continued employment by an employer while serving in the uniformed services is entitled to retirement system service credit under this subsection up to the date of discharge from the uniformed services if:
(i) The member obtains a determination from the director that he or she is totally incapacitated for continued employment due to conditions or events that occurred while serving in the uniformed services;
(ii) The member provides to the director proof of honorable discharge from the uniformed services; and
(iii) The member pays the employee contributions required under chapter 41.45 RCW within five years of the director's determination of total disability or prior to the distribution of any benefit, whichever comes first; or
(iv) Prior to retirement the member provides to the director proof that the member's interruptive military service was during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)). Any member who made payments for service credit for interruptive military service during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)) may, prior to retirement and on a form provided by the department, request a refund of the funds standing to his or her credit for up to five years of such service, and this amount shall be paid to him or her. Members with one or more periods of interruptive military service credit during a period of war may receive no more than five years of free retirement system service credit under this subsection.
(f) The surviving spouse, domestic partner, or eligible child or children of a member who left the employ of an employer to enter the uniformed services of the United States, federal emergency management agency, or national disaster medical system of the United States department of health and human services and died while performing service in response to a disaster, major emergency, special event, federal exercise, or official training on or after March 22, 2014, may, on behalf of the deceased member, apply for retirement system service credit under this subsection up to the date of the member's death in such service. The department shall establish the deceased member's service credit if the surviving spouse or eligible child or children provides to the director proof of the member's death while in such service.
(g) A member who leaves the employ of an employer to enter the uniformed services of the United States, federal emergency management agency, or national disaster medical system of the United States department of health and human services and becomes totally incapacitated for continued employment by an employer while providing such service is entitled to retirement system service credit under this subsection up to the date of separation from such service if the member obtains a determination from the director that he or she is totally incapacitated for continued employment due to conditions or events that occurred while performing such service.
(8) A member receiving benefits under Title 51 RCW who is not receiving benefits under this chapter shall be deemed to be on unpaid, authorized leave of absence.
Sec. 11. RCW 41.32.520 and 2009 c 226 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) Except as specified in subsection (3) of this section, upon receipt of proper proofs of death of any member before retirement or before the first installment of his or her retirement allowance shall become due his or her accumulated contributions, less any amount identified as owing to an obligee upon withdrawal of accumulated contributions pursuant to a court order filed under RCW 41.50.670, and/or other benefits payable upon his or her death shall be paid to his or her estate or to such persons, trust, or organization as he or she shall have nominated by written designation duly executed and filed with the department. If a member fails to file a new beneficiary designation subsequent to marriage, divorce, or reestablishment of membership following termination by withdrawal, lapsation, or retirement, payment of his or her accumulated contributions, less any amount identified as owing to an obligee upon withdrawal of accumulated contributions pursuant to a court order filed under RCW 41.50.670, and/or other benefits upon death before retirement shall be made to the surviving spouse, if any; otherwise, to his or her estate. If a member had established ten or more years of Washington membership service credit or was eligible for retirement, the beneficiary or the surviving spouse if otherwise eligible may elect, in lieu of a cash refund of the member's accumulated contributions, the following survivor benefit plan actuarially reduced, except under subsection (4) of this section, by the amount of any lump sum benefit identified as owing to an obligee upon withdrawal of accumulated contributions pursuant to a court order filed under RCW 41.50.670:
(a) A widow or widower, without a child or children under eighteen years of age, may elect a monthly payment of fifty dollars to become effective at age fifty, provided the member had fifteen or more years of Washington membership service credit. A benefit paid under this subsection (1)(a) shall terminate at the marriage of the beneficiary.
(b) The beneficiary, if a surviving spouse or a dependent (as that term is used in computing the dependent exemption for federal internal revenue purposes) may elect to receive a joint and one hundred percent retirement allowance under RCW 41.32.530.
(i) In the case of a dependent child the allowance shall continue until attainment of majority or so long as the department judges that the circumstances which created his or her dependent status continue to exist. In any case, if at the time dependent status ceases, an amount equal to the amount of accumulated contributions of the deceased member has not been paid to the beneficiary, the remainder shall then be paid in a lump sum to the beneficiary.
(ii) If at the time of death, the member was not then qualified for a service retirement allowance, the benefit shall be based upon the actuarial equivalent of the sum necessary to pay the accrued regular retirement allowance commencing when the deceased member would have first qualified for a service retirement allowance.
(2) If no qualified beneficiary survives a member, at his or her death his or her accumulated contributions, less any amount identified as owing to an obligee upon withdrawal of accumulated contributions pursuant to a court order filed under RCW 41.50.670, shall be paid to his or her estate, or his or her dependents may qualify for survivor benefits under benefit plan (1)(b) in lieu of a cash refund of the members accumulated contributions in the following order: Widow or widower, guardian of a dependent child or children under age eighteen, or dependent parent or parents.
(3) If a member dies within sixty days following application for disability retirement under RCW 41.32.550, the beneficiary named in the application may elect to receive the benefit provided by:
(a) This section; or
(b) RCW 41.32.550, according to the option chosen under RCW 41.32.530 in the disability application.
(4) The retirement allowance of a member who is killed in the course of employment, as determined by the director of the department of labor and industries, or the retirement allowance of a member who has left the employ of an employer due to service in the national guard or military reserves and dies while honorably serving in the national guard or military reserves during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)), is not subject to an actuarial reduction. The member's retirement allowance is computed under RCW 41.32.480.
Sec. 12. RCW 41.32.805 and 2009 c 226 s 6 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) Except as provided in RCW 11.07.010, if a member or a vested member who has not completed at least ten years of service dies, the amount of the accumulated contributions standing to such member's credit in the retirement system, less any amount identified as owing to an obligee upon withdrawal of accumulated contributions pursuant to a court order filed under RCW 41.50.670, at the time of such member's death shall be paid to the member's estate, or such person or persons, trust, or organization as the member shall have nominated by written designation duly executed and filed with the department. If there be no such designated person or persons still living at the time of the member's death, such member's accumulated contributions standing to such member's credit in the retirement system, less any amount identified as owing to an obligee upon withdrawal of accumulated contributions pursuant to a court order filed under RCW 41.50.670, shall be paid to the member's surviving spouse as if in fact such spouse had been nominated by written designation, or if there be no such surviving spouse, then to such member's legal representatives.
(2) If a member who is eligible for retirement or a member who has completed at least ten years of service dies, the surviving spouse or eligible children shall elect to receive either:
(a) A retirement allowance computed as provided for in RCW 41.32.765, actuarially reduced by the amount of any lump sum benefit identified as owing to an obligee upon withdrawal of accumulated contributions pursuant to a court order filed under RCW 41.50.670 and actuarially adjusted to reflect a joint and one hundred percent survivor option under RCW 41.32.785 and, except under subsection (4) of this section, if the member was not eligible for normal retirement at the date of death a further reduction as described in RCW 41.32.765; if a surviving spouse who is receiving a retirement allowance dies leaving a child or children of the member under the age of majority, then such child or children shall continue to receive an allowance in an amount equal to that which was being received by the surviving spouse, share and share alike, until such child or children reach the age of majority; if there is no surviving spouse eligible to receive an allowance at the time of the member's death, such member's child or children under the age of majority shall receive an allowance share and share alike calculated as herein provided making the assumption that the ages of the spouse and member were equal at the time of the member's death; or
(b) The member's accumulated contributions, less any amount identified as owing to an obligee upon withdrawal of accumulated contributions pursuant to a court order filed under RCW 41.50.670.
(3) If a member who is eligible for retirement or a member who has completed at least ten years of service dies after October 1, 1977, and is not survived by a spouse or an eligible child, then the accumulated contributions standing to the member's credit, less any amount identified as owing to an obligee upon withdrawal of accumulated contributions pursuant to a court order filed under RCW 41.50.670, shall be paid:
(a) To an estate, a person or persons, trust, or organization as the member shall have nominated by written designation duly executed and filed with the department; or
(b) If there is no such designated person or persons still living at the time of the member's death, then to the member's legal representatives.
(4) A member who is killed in the course of employment, as determined by the director of the department of labor and industries, or a member who has left the employ of an employer due to service in the national guard or military reserves and dies while honorably serving in the national guard or military reserves during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)), is not subject to an actuarial reduction under RCW 41.32.765. The member's retirement allowance is computed under RCW 41.32.760.
Sec. 13. RCW 41.32.810 and 2009 c 205 s 6 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) A member who is on a paid leave of absence authorized by a member's employer shall continue to receive service credit as provided for under the provisions of RCW 41.32.755 through 41.32.825.
(2) A member who receives compensation from an employer while on an authorized leave of absence to serve as an elected official of a labor organization, and whose employer is reimbursed by the labor organization for the compensation paid to the member during the period of absence, may also be considered to be on a paid leave of absence. This subsection shall only apply if the member's leave of absence is authorized by a collective bargaining agreement that provides that the member retains seniority rights with the employer during the period of leave. The earnable compensation reported for a member who establishes service credit under this subsection may not be greater than the salary paid to the highest paid job class covered by the collective bargaining agreement.
(3) Except as specified in subsection (6) of this section, a member shall be eligible to receive a maximum of two years service credit during a member's entire working career for those periods when a member is on an unpaid leave of absence authorized by an employer. Such credit may be obtained only if the member makes both the employer and member contributions plus interest as determined by the department for the period of the authorized leave of absence within five years of resumption of service or prior to retirement whichever comes sooner.
(4) If a member fails to meet the time limitations of subsection (3) of this section, the member may receive a maximum of two years of service credit during a member's working career for those periods when a member is on unpaid leave of absence authorized by an employer. This may be done by paying the amount required under RCW 41.50.165(2) prior to retirement.
(5) For the purpose of subsection (3) of this section, the contribution shall not include the contribution for the unfunded supplemental present value as required by RCW 41.32.775. The contributions required shall be based on the average of the member's earnable compensation at both the time the authorized leave of absence was granted and the time the member resumed employment.
(6) A member who leaves the employ of an employer to enter the uniformed services of the United States shall be entitled to retirement system service credit for up to five years of military service. This subsection shall be administered in a manner consistent with the requirements of the federal uniformed services employment and reemployment rights act.
(a) The member qualifies for service credit under this subsection if:
(i) Within ninety days of the member's honorable discharge from the uniformed services of the United States, the member applies for reemployment with the employer who employed the member immediately prior to the member entering the uniformed services; and
(ii) The member makes the employee contributions required under RCW 41.32.775 within five years of resumption of service or prior to retirement, whichever comes sooner; or
(iii) Prior to retirement and not within ninety days of the member's honorable discharge or five years of resumption of service the member pays the amount required under RCW 41.50.165(2); or
(iv) Prior to retirement the member provides to the director proof that the member's interruptive military service was during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)). Any member who made payments for service credit for interruptive military service during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)) may, prior to retirement and on a form provided by the department, request a refund of the funds standing to his or her credit for up to five years of such service, and this amount shall be paid to him or her. Members with one or more periods of interruptive military service credit during a period of war may receive no more than five years of free retirement system service credit under this subsection.
(b) Upon receipt of member contributions under (a)(ii), (d)(iii), or (e)(iii) of this subsection, or adequate proof under (a)(iv), (d)(iv), or (e)(iv) of this subsection, the department shall establish the member's service credit and shall bill the employer for its contribution required under RCW 41.32.775 for the period of military service, plus interest as determined by the department.
(c) The contributions required under (a)(ii), (d)(iii), or (e)(iii) of this subsection shall be based on the compensation the member would have earned if not on leave, or if that cannot be estimated with reasonable certainty, the compensation reported for the member in the year prior to when the member went on military leave.
(d) The surviving spouse or eligible child or children of a member who left the employ of an employer to enter the uniformed services of the United States and died while serving in the uniformed services may, on behalf of the deceased member, apply for retirement system service credit under this subsection up to the date of the member's death in the uniformed services. The department shall establish the deceased member's service credit if the surviving spouse or eligible child or children:
(i) Provides to the director proof of the member's death while serving in the uniformed services;
(ii) Provides to the director proof of the member's honorable service in the uniformed services prior to the date of death; and
(iii) Pays the employee contributions required under chapter 41.45 RCW within five years of the date of death or prior to the distribution of any benefit, whichever comes first; or
(iv) Prior to the distribution of any benefit, provides to the director proof that the member's interruptive military service was during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)). If the deceased member made payments for service credit for interruptive military service during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)), the surviving spouse or eligible child or children may, prior to the distribution of any benefit and on a form provided by the department, request a refund of the funds standing to the deceased member's credit for up to five years of such service, and this amount shall be paid to the surviving spouse or children. Members with one or more periods of interruptive military service during a period of war may receive no more than five years of free retirement system service credit under this subsection.
(e) A member who leaves the employ of an employer to enter the uniformed services of the United States and becomes totally incapacitated for continued employment by an employer while serving in the uniformed services is entitled to retirement system service credit under this subsection up to the date of discharge from the uniformed services if:
(i) The member obtains a determination from the director that he or she is totally incapacitated for continued employment due to conditions or events that occurred while serving in the uniformed services;
(ii) The member provides to the director proof of honorable discharge from the uniformed services; and
(iii) The member pays the employee contributions required under chapter 41.45 RCW within five years of the director's determination of total disability or prior to the distribution of any benefit, whichever comes first; or
(iv) Prior to retirement the member provides to the director proof that the member's interruptive military service was during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)). Any member who made payments for service credit for interruptive military service during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)) may, prior to retirement and on a form provided by the department, request a refund of the funds standing to his or her credit for up to five years of such service, and this amount shall be paid to him or her. Members with one or more periods of interruptive military service credit during a period of war may receive no more than five years of free retirement system service credit under this subsection.
Sec. 14. RCW 41.32.865 and 2009 c 205 s 7 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) A member who is on a paid leave of absence authorized by a member's employer shall continue to receive service credit.
(2) A member who receives compensation from an employer while on an authorized leave of absence to serve as an elected official of a labor organization, and whose employer is reimbursed by the labor organization for the compensation paid to the member during the period of absence, may also be considered to be on a paid leave of absence. This subsection shall only apply if the member's leave of absence is authorized by a collective bargaining agreement that provides that the member retains seniority rights with the employer during the period of leave. The earnable compensation reported for a member who establishes service credit under this subsection may not be greater than the salary paid to the highest paid job class covered by the collective bargaining agreement.
(3) Except as specified in subsection (4) of this section, a member shall be eligible to receive a maximum of two years service credit during a member's entire working career for those periods when a member is on an unpaid leave of absence authorized by an employer. Such credit may be obtained only if:
(a) The member makes the contribution on behalf of the employer, plus interest, as determined by the department; and
(b) The member makes the employee contribution, plus interest, as determined by the department, to the defined contribution portion.
The contributions required shall be based on the average of the member's earnable compensation at both the time the authorized leave of absence was granted and the time the member resumed employment.
(4) A member who leaves the employ of an employer to enter the uniformed services of the United States shall be entitled to retirement system service credit for up to five years of military service if within ninety days of the member's honorable discharge from the uniformed services of the United States, the member applies for reemployment with the employer who employed the member immediately prior to the member entering the uniformed services. This subsection shall be administered in a manner consistent with the requirements of the federal uniformed services employment and reemployment rights act.
The department shall establish the member's service credit and shall bill the employer for its contribution required under chapter 239, Laws of 1995 for the period of military service, plus interest as determined by the department. Service credit under this subsection may be obtained only if the member makes the employee contribution to the defined contribution portion as determined by the department, or prior to retirement, the member provides to the director proof that the member's interruptive military service was during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)). Any member who made payments for service credit for interruptive military service during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)) may, prior to retirement and on a form provided by the department, request a refund of the funds standing to his or her credit for up to five years of such service, and this amount shall be paid to him or her. Members with one or more periods of interruptive military service during a period of war may receive no more than five years of free retirement system service credit under this subsection.
The contributions required shall be based on the compensation the member would have earned if not on leave, or if that cannot be estimated with reasonable certainty, the compensation reported for the member in the year prior to when the member went on military leave.
(a) The surviving spouse or eligible child or children of a member who left the employ of an employer to enter the uniformed services of the United States and died while serving in the uniformed services may, on behalf of the deceased member, apply for retirement system service credit under this subsection up to the date of the member's death in the uniformed services. The department shall establish the deceased member's service credit if the surviving spouse or eligible child or children:
(i) Provides to the director proof of the member's death while serving in the uniformed services;
(ii) Provides to the director proof of the member's honorable service in the uniformed services prior to the date of death; and
(iii) Pays the employee contributions required under this subsection within five years of the date of death or prior to the distribution of any benefit, whichever comes first; or
(iv) Prior to the distribution of any benefit, provides to the director proof that the member's interruptive military service was during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)). If the deceased member made payments for service credit for interruptive military service during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)), the surviving spouse or eligible child or children may, prior to the distribution of any benefit and on a form provided by the department, request a refund of the funds standing to the deceased member's credit for up to five years of such service, and this amount shall be paid to the surviving spouse or children. Members with one or more periods of interruptive military service during a period of war may receive no more than five years of free retirement system service credit under this subsection.
(b) A member who leaves the employ of an employer to enter the uniformed services of the United States and becomes totally incapacitated for continued employment by an employer while serving in the uniformed services is entitled to retirement system service credit under this subsection up to the date of discharge from the uniformed services if:
(i) The member obtains a determination from the director that he or she is totally incapacitated for continued employment due to conditions or events that occurred while serving in the uniformed services;
(ii) The member provides to the director proof of honorable discharge from the uniformed services; and
(iii) The member pays the employee contributions required under this subsection within five years of the director's determination of total disability or prior to the distribution of any benefit, whichever comes first; or
(iv) Prior to retirement the member provides to the director proof that the member's interruptive military service was during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)). Any member who made payments for service credit for interruptive military service during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)) may, prior to retirement and on a form provided by the department, request a refund of the funds standing to his or her credit for up to five years of such service, and this amount shall be paid to him or her. Members with one or more periods of interruptive military service during a period of war may receive no more than five years of free retirement system service credit under this subsection.
Sec. 15. RCW 41.32.895 and 2009 c 226 s 7 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) If a member dies prior to retirement, the surviving spouse or eligible child or children shall receive a retirement allowance computed as provided in RCW 41.32.851 actuarially reduced to reflect a joint and one hundred percent survivor option and, except under subsection (2) of this section, if the member was not eligible for normal retirement at the date of death a further reduction as described in RCW 41.32.875.
If the surviving spouse who is receiving the retirement allowance dies leaving a child or children under the age of majority, then such child or children shall continue to receive an allowance in an amount equal to that which was being received by the surviving spouse, share and share alike, until such child or children reach the age of majority.
If there is no surviving spouse eligible to receive an allowance at the time of the member's death, such member's child or children under the age of majority shall receive an allowance, share and share alike. The allowance shall be calculated with the assumption that the age of the spouse and member were equal at the time of the member's death.
(2) A member who is killed in the course of employment, as determined by the director of the department of labor and industries, or a member who has left the employ of an employer due to service in the national guard or military reserves and dies while honorably serving in the national guard or military reserves during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)), is not subject to an actuarial reduction under RCW 41.32.875. The member's retirement allowance is computed under RCW 41.32.840.
Sec. 16. RCW 41.35.460 and 2009 c 226 s 8 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) Except as provided in RCW 11.07.010, if a member or a vested member who has not completed at least ten years of service dies, the amount of the accumulated contributions standing to such member's credit in the retirement system at the time of such member's death, less any amount identified as owing to an obligee upon withdrawal of accumulated contributions pursuant to a court order filed under RCW 41.50.670, shall be paid to the member's estate, or such person or persons, trust, or organization as the member shall have nominated by written designation duly executed and filed with the department. If there be no such designated person or persons still living at the time of the member's death, such member's accumulated contributions standing to such member's credit in the retirement system, less any amount identified as owing to an obligee upon withdrawal of accumulated contributions pursuant to a court order filed under RCW 41.50.670, shall be paid to the member's surviving spouse as if in fact such spouse had been nominated by written designation, or if there be no such surviving spouse, then to such member's legal representatives.
(2) If a member who is eligible for retirement or a member who has completed at least ten years of service dies, the surviving spouse or eligible child or children shall elect to receive either:
(a) A retirement allowance computed as provided for in RCW 41.35.420, actuarially reduced by the amount of any lump sum benefit identified as owing to an obligee upon withdrawal of accumulated contributions pursuant to a court order filed under RCW 41.50.670 and actuarially adjusted to reflect a joint and one hundred percent survivor option under RCW 41.35.220 and, except under subsection (4) of this section, if the member was not eligible for normal retirement at the date of death a further reduction as described in RCW 41.35.420; if a surviving spouse who is receiving a retirement allowance dies leaving a child or children of the member under the age of majority, then such child or children shall continue to receive an allowance in an amount equal to that which was being received by the surviving spouse, share and share alike, until such child or children reach the age of majority; if there is no surviving spouse eligible to receive an allowance at the time of the member's death, such member's child or children under the age of majority shall receive an allowance, share and share alike, calculated as herein provided making the assumption that the ages of the spouse and member were equal at the time of the member's death; or
(b) The member's accumulated contributions, less any amount identified as owing to an obligee upon withdrawal of accumulated contributions pursuant to a court order filed under RCW 41.50.670.
(3) If a member who is eligible for retirement or a member who has completed at least ten years of service dies and is not survived by a spouse or an eligible child, then the accumulated contributions standing to the member's credit, less any amount identified as owing to an obligee upon withdrawal of accumulated contributions pursuant to a court order filed under RCW 41.50.670, shall be paid:
(a) To a person or persons, estate, trust, or organization as the member shall have nominated by written designation duly executed and filed with the department; or
(b) If there is no such designated person or persons still living at the time of the member's death, then to the member's legal representatives.
(4) A member who is killed in the course of employment, as determined by the director of the department of labor and industries, or a member who has left the employ of an employer due to service in the national guard or military reserves and dies while honorably serving in the national guard or military reserves during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)), is not subject to an actuarial reduction under RCW 41.35.420. The member's retirement allowance is computed under RCW 41.35.400.
Sec. 17. RCW 41.35.470 and 2009 c 205 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) A member who is on a paid leave of absence authorized by a member's employer shall continue to receive service credit as provided for under the provisions of RCW 41.35.400 through 41.35.599.
(2) A member who receives compensation from an employer while on an authorized leave of absence to serve as an elected official of a labor organization, and whose employer is reimbursed by the labor organization for the compensation paid to the member during the period of absence, may also be considered to be on a paid leave of absence. This subsection shall only apply if the member's leave of absence is authorized by a collective bargaining agreement that provides that the member retains seniority rights with the employer during the period of leave. The compensation earnable reported for a member who establishes service credit under this subsection may not be greater than the salary paid to the highest paid job class covered by the collective bargaining agreement.
(3) Except as specified in subsection (4) of this section, a member shall be eligible to receive a maximum of two years service credit during a member's entire working career for those periods when a member is on an unpaid leave of absence authorized by an employer. Such credit may be obtained only if:
(a) The member makes both the plan 2 employer and member contributions plus interest as determined by the department for the period of the authorized leave of absence within five years of resumption of service or prior to retirement whichever comes sooner; or
(b) If not within five years of resumption of service but prior to retirement, pay the amount required under RCW 41.50.165(2).
The contributions required under (a) of this subsection shall be based on the average of the member's compensation earnable at both the time the authorized leave of absence was granted and the time the member resumed employment.
(4) A member who leaves the employ of an employer to enter the uniformed services of the United States shall be entitled to retirement system service credit for up to five years of military service. This subsection shall be administered in a manner consistent with the requirements of the federal uniformed services employment and reemployment rights act.
(a) The member qualifies for service credit under this subsection if:
(i) Within ninety days of the member's honorable discharge from the uniformed services of the United States, the member applies for reemployment with the employer who employed the member immediately prior to the member entering the uniformed services; and
(ii) The member makes the employee contributions required under RCW 41.35.430 within five years of resumption of service or prior to retirement, whichever comes sooner; or
(iii) Prior to retirement and not within ninety days of the member's honorable discharge or five years of resumption of service the member pays the amount required under RCW 41.50.165(2); or
(iv) Prior to retirement the member provides to the director proof that the member's interruptive military service was during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)). Any member who made payments for service credit for interruptive military service during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)) may, prior to retirement and on a form provided by the department, request a refund of the funds standing to his or her credit for up to five years of such service, and this amount shall be paid to him or her. Members with one or more periods of interruptive military service credit during a period of war may receive no more than five years of free retirement system service credit under this subsection.
(b) Upon receipt of member contributions under (a)(ii), (d)(iii), or (e)(iii) of this subsection, or adequate proof under (a)(iv), (d)(iv), or (e)(iv) of this subsection, the department shall establish the member's service credit and shall bill the employer for its contribution required under RCW 41.35.430 for the period of military service, plus interest as determined by the department.
(c) The contributions required under (a)(ii), (d)(iii), or (e)(iii) of this subsection shall be based on the compensation the member would have earned if not on leave, or if that cannot be estimated with reasonable certainty, the compensation reported for the member in the year prior to when the member went on military leave.
(d) The surviving spouse or eligible child or children of a member who left the employ of an employer to enter the uniformed services of the United States and died while serving in the uniformed services may, on behalf of the deceased member, apply for retirement system service credit under this subsection up to the date of the member's death in the uniformed services. The department shall establish the deceased member's service credit if the surviving spouse or eligible child or children:
(i) Provides to the director proof of the member's death while serving in the uniformed services;
(ii) Provides to the director proof of the member's honorable service in the uniformed services prior to the date of death; and
(iii) Pays the employee contributions required under chapter 41.45 RCW within five years of the date of death or prior to the distribution of any benefit, whichever comes first; or
(iv) Prior to the distribution of any benefit, provides to the director proof that the member's interruptive military service was during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)). If the deceased member made payments for service credit for interruptive military service during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)), the surviving spouse or eligible child or children may, prior to the distribution of any benefit and on a form provided by the department, request a refund of the funds standing to the deceased member's credit for up to five years of such service, and this amount shall be paid to the surviving spouse or children. Members with one or more periods of interruptive military service during a period of war may receive no more than five years of free retirement system service credit under this subsection.
(e) A member who leaves the employ of an employer to enter the uniformed services of the United States and becomes totally incapacitated for continued employment by an employer while serving in the uniformed services is entitled to retirement system service credit under this subsection up to the date of discharge from the uniformed services if:
(i) The member obtains a determination from the director that he or she is totally incapacitated for continued employment due to conditions or events that occurred while serving in the uniformed services;
(ii) The member provides to the director proof of honorable discharge from the uniformed services; and
(iii) The member pays the employee contributions required under chapter 41.45 RCW within five years of the director's determination of total disability or prior to the distribution of any benefit, whichever comes first; or
(iv) Prior to retirement the member provides to the director proof that the member's interruptive military service was during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)). Any member who made payments for service credit for interruptive military service during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)) may, prior to retirement and on a form provided by the department, request a refund of the funds standing to his or her credit for up to five years of such service, and this amount shall be paid to him or her. Members with one or more periods of interruptive military service credit during a period of war may receive no more than five years of free retirement system service credit under this subsection.
Sec. 18. RCW 41.35.650 and 2009 c 205 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) A member who is on a paid leave of absence authorized by a member's employer shall continue to receive service credit.
(2) A member who receives compensation from an employer while on an authorized leave of absence to serve as an elected official of a labor organization, and whose employer is reimbursed by the labor organization for the compensation paid to the member during the period of absence, may also be considered to be on a paid leave of absence. This subsection shall only apply if the member's leave of absence is authorized by a collective bargaining agreement that provides that the member retains seniority rights with the employer during the period of leave. The earnable compensation reported for a member who establishes service credit under this subsection may not be greater than the salary paid to the highest paid job class covered by the collective bargaining agreement.
(3) Except as specified in subsection (4) of this section, a member shall be eligible to receive a maximum of two years service credit during a member's entire working career for those periods when a member is on an unpaid leave of absence authorized by an employer. Such credit may be obtained only if:
(a) The member makes the contribution on behalf of the employer, plus interest, as determined by the department; and
(b) The member makes the employee contribution, plus interest, as determined by the department, to the defined contribution portion.
The contributions required shall be based on the average of the member's earnable compensation at both the time the authorized leave of absence was granted and the time the member resumed employment.
(4) A member who leaves the employ of an employer to enter the uniformed services of the United States shall be entitled to retirement system service credit for up to five years of military service if within ninety days of the member's honorable discharge from the uniformed services of the United States, the member applies for reemployment with the employer who employed the member immediately prior to the member entering the uniformed services. This subsection shall be administered in a manner consistent with the requirements of the federal uniformed services employment and reemployment rights act.
The department shall establish the member's service credit and shall bill the employer for its contribution required under RCW 41.35.720 for the period of military service, plus interest as determined by the department. Service credit under this subsection may be obtained only if the member makes the employee contribution to the defined contribution portion as determined by the department, or prior to retirement, the member provides to the director proof that the member's interruptive military service was during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)). Any member who made payments for service credit for interruptive military service during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)) may, prior to retirement and on a form provided by the department, request a refund of the funds standing to his or her credit for up to five years of such service, and this amount shall be paid to him or her. Members with one or more periods of interruptive military service during a period of war may receive no more than five years of free retirement system service credit under this subsection.
The contributions required shall be based on the compensation the member would have earned if not on leave, or if that cannot be estimated with reasonable certainty, the compensation reported for the member in the year prior to when the member went on military leave.
(a) The surviving spouse or eligible child or children of a member who left the employ of an employer to enter the uniformed services of the United States and died while serving in the uniformed services may, on behalf of the deceased member, apply for retirement system service credit under this subsection up to the date of the member's death in the uniformed services. The department shall establish the deceased member's service credit if the surviving spouse or eligible child or children:
(i) Provides to the director proof of the member's death while serving in the uniformed services;
(ii) Provides to the director proof of the member's honorable service in the uniformed services prior to the date of death; and
(iii) Pays the employee contributions required under this subsection within five years of the date of death or prior to the distribution of any benefit, whichever comes first; or
(iv) Prior to the distribution of any benefit, provides to the director proof that the member's interruptive military service was during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)). If the deceased member made payments for service credit for interruptive military service during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)), the surviving spouse or eligible child or children may, prior to the distribution of any benefit and on a form provided by the department, request a refund of the funds standing to the deceased member's credit for up to five years of such service, and this amount shall be paid to the surviving spouse or children. Members with one or more periods of interruptive military service during a period of war may receive no more than five years of free retirement system service credit under this subsection.
(b) A member who leaves the employ of an employer to enter the uniformed services of the United States and becomes totally incapacitated for continued employment by an employer while serving in the uniformed services is entitled to retirement system service credit under this subsection up to the date of discharge from the uniformed services if:
(i) The member obtains a determination from the director that he or she is totally incapacitated for continued employment due to conditions or events that occurred while serving in the uniformed services;
(ii) The member provides to the director proof of honorable discharge from the uniformed services; and
(iii) The member pays the employee contributions required under this subsection within five years of the director's determination of total disability or prior to the distribution of any benefit, whichever comes first; or
(iv) Prior to retirement the member provides to the director proof that the member's interruptive military service was during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)). Any member who made payments for service credit for interruptive military service during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)) may, prior to retirement and on a form provided by the department, request a refund of the funds standing to his or her credit for up to five years of such service, and this amount shall be paid to him or her. Members with one or more periods of interruptive military service credit during a period of war may receive no more than five years of free retirement system service credit under this subsection.
Sec. 19. RCW 41.35.710 and 2009 c 226 s 9 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) If a member dies prior to retirement, the surviving spouse or eligible child or children shall receive a retirement allowance computed as provided in RCW 41.35.620 actuarially reduced to reflect a joint and one hundred percent survivor option and, except under subsection (2) of this section, if the member was not eligible for normal retirement at the date of death a further reduction as described in RCW 41.35.680.
If the surviving spouse who is receiving the retirement allowance dies leaving a child or children under the age of majority, then such child or children shall continue to receive an allowance in an amount equal to that which was being received by the surviving spouse, share and share alike, until such child or children reach the age of majority.
If there is no surviving spouse eligible to receive an allowance at the time of the member's death, such member's child or children under the age of majority shall receive an allowance, share and share alike. The allowance shall be calculated with the assumption that the age of the spouse and member were equal at the time of the member's death.
(2) A member who is killed in the course of employment, as determined by the director of the department of labor and industries, or a member who has left the employ of an employer due to service in the national guard or military reserves and dies while honorably serving in the national guard or military reserves during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)), is not subject to an actuarial reduction under RCW 41.35.680. The member's retirement allowance is computed under RCW 41.35.620.
Sec. 20. RCW 41.37.250 and 2009 c 226 s 10 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) Except as provided in RCW 11.07.010, if a member or a vested member who has not completed at least ten years of service dies, the amount of the accumulated contributions standing to that member's credit in the retirement system at the time of the member's death, less any amount identified as owing to an obligee upon withdrawal of accumulated contributions pursuant to a court order filed under RCW 41.50.670, shall be paid to the member's estate, or the person or persons, trust, or organization as the member shall have nominated by written designation duly executed and filed with the department. If there is no designated person or persons still living at the time of the member's death, the member's accumulated contributions standing to the member's credit in the retirement system, less any amount identified as owing to an obligee upon withdrawal of accumulated contributions pursuant to a court order filed under RCW 41.50.670, shall be paid to the member's surviving spouse as if in fact that spouse had been nominated by written designation, or if there is no surviving spouse, then to the member's legal representatives.
(2) If a member who is eligible for retirement or a member who has completed at least ten years of service dies, the surviving spouse or eligible child or children shall elect to receive either:
(a) A retirement allowance computed as provided for in RCW 41.37.210, actuarially reduced by the amount of any lump sum benefit identified as owing to an obligee upon withdrawal of accumulated contributions pursuant to a court order filed under RCW 41.50.670 and actuarially adjusted to reflect a joint and one hundred percent survivor option under RCW 41.37.170 and, except under subsection (4) of this section, if the member was not eligible for normal retirement at the date of death a further reduction as described in RCW 41.37.210; if a surviving spouse who is receiving a retirement allowance dies leaving a child or children of the member under the age of majority, then the child or children shall continue to receive an allowance in an amount equal to that which was being received by the surviving spouse, share and share alike, until the child or children reach the age of majority; if there is no surviving spouse eligible to receive an allowance at the time of the member's death, the member's child or children under the age of majority shall receive an allowance, share and share alike, calculated under this section making the assumption that the ages of the spouse and member were equal at the time of the member's death; or
(b) The member's accumulated contributions, less any amount identified as owing to an obligee upon withdrawal of accumulated contributions pursuant to a court order filed under RCW 41.50.670.
(3) If a member who is eligible for retirement or a member who has completed at least ten years of service dies and is not survived by a spouse or an eligible child, then the accumulated contributions standing to the member's credit, less any amount identified as owing to an obligee upon withdrawal of accumulated contributions pursuant to a court order filed under RCW 41.50.670, shall be paid:
(a) To a person or persons, estate, trust, or organization as the member shall have nominated by written designation duly executed and filed with the department; or
(b) If there is no designated person or persons still living at the time of the member's death, then to the member's legal representatives.
(4) A member who is killed in the course of employment, as determined by the director of the department of labor and industries, or a member who has left the employ of an employer due to service in the national guard or military reserves and dies while honorably serving in the national guard or military reserves during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)), is not subject to reduction under RCW 41.37.210. The member's retirement allowance is computed under RCW 41.37.190.
Sec. 21. RCW 41.37.260 and 2009 c 205 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) A member who is on a paid leave of absence authorized by a member's employer shall continue to receive service credit as provided for under RCW 41.37.190 through 41.37.290.
(2) A member who receives compensation from an employer while on an authorized leave of absence to serve as an elected official of a labor organization, and whose employer is reimbursed by the labor organization for the compensation paid to the member during the period of absence, may also be considered to be on a paid leave of absence. This subsection shall only apply if the member's leave of absence is authorized by a collective bargaining agreement that provides that the member retains seniority rights with the employer during the period of leave. The compensation earnable reported for a member who establishes service credit under this subsection may not be greater than the salary paid to the highest paid job class covered by the collective bargaining agreement.
(3) Except as specified in subsection (4) of this section, a member shall be eligible to receive a maximum of two years service credit during a member's entire working career for those periods when a member is on an unpaid leave of absence authorized by an employer. This credit may be obtained only if:
(a) The member makes both the employer and member contributions plus interest as determined by the department for the period of the authorized leave of absence within five years of resumption of service or prior to retirement whichever comes sooner; or
(b) If not within five years of resumption of service but prior to retirement, pay the amount required under RCW 41.50.165(2).
The contributions required under (a) of this subsection shall be based on the average of the member's compensation earnable at both the time the authorized leave of absence was granted and the time the member resumed employment.
(4) A member who leaves the employ of an employer to enter the uniformed services of the United States shall be entitled to retirement system service credit for up to five years of military service. This subsection shall be administered in a manner consistent with the requirements of the federal uniformed services employment and reemployment rights act.
(a) The member qualifies for service credit under this subsection if:
(i) Within ninety days of the member's honorable discharge from the uniformed services of the United States, the member applies for reemployment with the employer who employed the member immediately prior to the member entering the uniformed services; and
(ii) The member makes the employee contributions required under RCW 41.37.220 within five years of resumption of service or prior to retirement, whichever comes sooner; or
(iii) Prior to retirement and not within ninety days of the member's honorable discharge or five years of resumption of service the member pays the amount required under RCW 41.50.165(2); or
(iv) Prior to retirement the member provides to the director proof that the member's interruptive military service was during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)). Any member who made payments for service credit for interruptive military service during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)) may, prior to retirement and on a form provided by the department, request a refund of the funds standing to his or her credit for up to five years of such service, and this amount shall be paid to him or her. Members with one or more periods of interruptive military service credit during a period of war may receive no more than five years of free retirement system service credit under this subsection.
(b) Upon receipt of member contributions under (a)(ii), (d)(iii), or (e)(iii) of this subsection, or adequate proof under (a)(iv), (d)(iv), or (e)(iv) of this subsection, the department shall establish the member's service credit and shall bill the employer for its contribution required under RCW 41.37.220 for the period of military service, plus interest as determined by the department.
(c) The contributions required under (a)(ii), (d)(iii), or (e)(iii) of this subsection shall be based on the compensation the member would have earned if not on leave, or if that cannot be estimated with reasonable certainty, the compensation reported for the member in the year prior to when the member went on military leave.
(d) The surviving spouse or eligible child or children of a member who left the employ of an employer to enter the uniformed services of the United States and died while serving in the uniformed services may, on behalf of the deceased member, apply for retirement system service credit under this subsection up to the date of the member's death in the uniformed services. The department shall establish the deceased member's service credit if the surviving spouse or eligible child or children:
(i) Provides to the director proof of the member's death while serving in the uniformed services;
(ii) Provides to the director proof of the member's honorable service in the uniformed services prior to the date of death; and
(iii) Pays the employee contributions required under chapter 41.45 RCW within five years of the date of death or prior to the distribution of any benefit, whichever comes first; or
(iv) Prior to the distribution of any benefit, provides to the director proof that the member's interruptive military service was during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)). If the deceased member made payments for service credit for interruptive military service during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)), the surviving spouse or eligible child or children may, prior to the distribution of any benefit and on a form provided by the department, request a refund of the funds standing to the deceased member's credit for up to five years of such service, and this amount shall be paid to the surviving spouse or children. Members with one or more periods of interruptive military service during a period of war may receive no more than five years of free retirement system service credit under this subsection.
(e) A member who leaves the employ of an employer to enter the uniformed services of the United States and becomes totally incapacitated for continued employment by an employer while serving in the uniformed services is entitled to retirement system service credit under this subsection up to the date of discharge from the uniformed services if:
(i) The member obtains a determination from the director that he or she is totally incapacitated for continued employment due to conditions or events that occurred while serving in the uniformed services;
(ii) The member provides to the director proof of honorable discharge from the uniformed services; and
(iii) The member pays the employee contributions required under chapter 41.45 RCW within five years of the director's determination of total disability or prior to the distribution of any benefit, whichever comes first; or
(iv) Prior to retirement the member provides to the director proof that the member's interruptive military service was during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)). Any member who made payments for service credit for interruptive military service during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)) may, prior to retirement and on a form provided by the department, request a refund of the funds standing to his or her credit for up to five years of such service, and this amount shall be paid to him or her. Members with one or more periods of interruptive military service credit during a period of war may receive no more than five years of free retirement system service credit under this subsection.
Sec. 22. RCW 41.40.270 and 2009 c 226 s 11 and 2009 c 111 s 1 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
(1) Except as specified in subsection (4) of this section, should a member die before the date of retirement the amount of the accumulated contributions standing to the member's credit in the employees' savings fund, less any amount identified as owing to an obligee upon withdrawal of accumulated contributions pursuant to a court order filed under RCW 41.50.670, at the time of death:
(a) Shall be paid to the member's estate, or such person or persons, trust, or organization as the member shall have nominated by written designation duly executed and filed with the department; or
(b) If there be no such designated person or persons still living at the time of the member's death, or if a member fails to file a new beneficiary designation subsequent to marriage, remarriage, dissolution of marriage, divorce, or reestablishment of membership following termination by withdrawal or retirement, such accumulated contributions, less any amount identified as owing to an obligee upon withdrawal of accumulated contributions pursuant to a court order filed under RCW 41.50.670, shall be paid to the surviving spouse as if in fact such spouse had been nominated by written designation as aforesaid, or if there be no such surviving spouse, then to the member's legal representatives.
(2) Upon the death of any member who is qualified but has not applied for a service retirement allowance or has completed ten years of service at the time of death, the designated beneficiary, or the surviving spouse as provided in subsection (1) of this section, may elect to waive the payment provided by subsection (1) of this section. Upon such an election, a joint and one hundred percent survivor option under RCW 41.40.188, calculated under the retirement allowance described in RCW 41.40.185 or 41.40.190, whichever is greater, actuarially reduced, except under subsection (5) of this section, by the amount of any lump sum benefit identified as owing to an obligee upon withdrawal of accumulated contributions pursuant to a court order filed under RCW 41.50.670 shall automatically be given effect as if selected for the benefit of the designated beneficiary. If the member is not then qualified for a service retirement allowance, such benefit shall be based upon the actuarial equivalent of the sum necessary to pay the accrued regular retirement allowance commencing when the deceased member would have first qualified for a service retirement allowance.
(3) Subsection (1) of this section, unless elected, shall not apply to any member who has applied for service retirement in RCW 41.40.180, as now or hereafter amended, and thereafter dies between the date of separation from service and the member's effective retirement date, where the member has selected a survivorship option under RCW 41.40.188. In those cases the beneficiary named in the member's final application for service retirement may elect to receive either a cash refund, less any amount identified as owing to an obligee upon withdrawal of accumulated contributions pursuant to a court order filed under RCW 41.50.670, or monthly payments according to the option selected by the member.
(4) If a member dies within sixty days following application for disability retirement under RCW 41.40.230, the beneficiary named in the application may elect to receive the benefit provided by:
(a) This section; or
(b) RCW 41.40.235, according to the option chosen under RCW 41.40.188 in the disability application.
(5) The retirement allowance of a member who is killed in the course of employment, as determined by the director of the department of labor and industries, or the retirement allowance of a member who has left the employ of an employer due to service in the national guard or military reserves and dies while honorably serving in the national guard or military reserves during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)), is not subject to an actuarial reduction. The member's retirement allowance is computed under RCW 41.40.185.
Sec. 23. RCW 41.40.700 and 2009 c 226 s 12 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) Except as provided in RCW 11.07.010, if a member or a vested member who has not completed at least ten years of service dies, the amount of the accumulated contributions standing to such member's credit in the retirement system at the time of such member's death, less any amount identified as owing to an obligee upon withdrawal of accumulated contributions pursuant to a court order filed under RCW 41.50.670, shall be paid to the member's estate, or such person or persons, trust, or organization as the member shall have nominated by written designation duly executed and filed with the department. If there be no such designated person or persons still living at the time of the member's death, such member's accumulated contributions standing to such member's credit in the retirement system, less any amount identified as owing to an obligee upon withdrawal of accumulated contributions pursuant to a court order filed under RCW 41.50.670, shall be paid to the member's surviving spouse as if in fact such spouse had been nominated by written designation, or if there be no such surviving spouse, then to such member's legal representatives.
(2) If a member who is eligible for retirement or a member who has completed at least ten years of service dies, the surviving spouse or eligible child or children shall elect to receive one of the following:
(a) A retirement allowance computed as provided for in RCW 41.40.630, actuarially reduced by the amount of any lump sum benefit identified as owing to an obligee upon withdrawal of accumulated contributions pursuant to a court order filed under RCW 41.50.670 and actuarially adjusted to reflect a joint and one hundred percent survivor option under RCW 41.40.660 and, except under subsection (4) of this section, if the member was not eligible for normal retirement at the date of death a further reduction as described in RCW 41.40.630; if a surviving spouse who is receiving a retirement allowance dies leaving a child or children of the member under the age of majority, then such child or children shall continue to receive an allowance in an amount equal to that which was being received by the surviving spouse, share and share alike, until such child or children reach the age of majority; if there is no surviving spouse eligible to receive an allowance at the time of the member's death, such member's child or children under the age of majority shall receive an allowance share and share alike calculated as herein provided making the assumption that the ages of the spouse and member were equal at the time of the member's death;
(b) The member's accumulated contributions, less any amount identified as owing to an obligee upon withdrawal of accumulated contributions pursuant to a court order filed under RCW 41.50.670; or
(c) For a member who leaves the employ of an employer to enter the uniformed services of the United States and who dies after January 1, 2007, while honorably serving in the uniformed services of the United States in Operation Enduring Freedom or Persian Gulf, Operation Iraqi Freedom, an amount equal to two hundred percent of the member's accumulated contributions, less any amount identified as owing to an obligee upon withdrawal of accumulated contributions pursuant to a court order filed under RCW 41.50.670.
(3) If a member who is eligible for retirement or a member who has completed at least ten years of service dies after October 1, 1977, and is not survived by a spouse or an eligible child, then the accumulated contributions standing to the member's credit, less any amount identified as owing to an obligee upon withdrawal of accumulated contributions pursuant to a court order filed under RCW 41.50.670, shall be paid:
(a) To a person or persons, estate, trust, or organization as the member shall have nominated by written designation duly executed and filed with the department; or
(b) If there is no such designated person or persons still living at the time of the member's death, then to the member's legal representatives.
(4) A member who is killed in the course of employment, as determined by the director of the department of labor and industries, or a member who has left the employ of an employer due to service in the national guard or military reserves and dies while honorably serving in the national guard or military reserves during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)), is not subject to an actuarial reduction under RCW 41.40.630. The member's retirement allowance is computed under RCW 41.40.620.
Sec. 24. RCW 41.40.710 and 2009 c 205 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) A member who is on a paid leave of absence authorized by a member's employer shall continue to receive service credit as provided for under the provisions of RCW 41.40.610 through 41.40.740.
(2) A member who receives compensation from an employer while on an authorized leave of absence to serve as an elected official of a labor organization, and whose employer is reimbursed by the labor organization for the compensation paid to the member during the period of absence, may also be considered to be on a paid leave of absence. This subsection shall only apply if the member's leave of absence is authorized by a collective bargaining agreement that provides that the member retains seniority rights with the employer during the period of leave. The compensation earnable reported for a member who establishes service credit under this subsection may not be greater than the salary paid to the highest paid job class covered by the collective bargaining agreement.
(3) Except as specified in subsection (4) of this section, a member shall be eligible to receive a maximum of two years service credit during a member's entire working career for those periods when a member is on an unpaid leave of absence authorized by an employer. Such credit may be obtained only if:
(a) The member makes both the plan 2 employer and member contributions plus interest as determined by the department for the period of the authorized leave of absence within five years of resumption of service or prior to retirement whichever comes sooner; or
(b) If not within five years of resumption of service but prior to retirement, pay the amount required under RCW 41.50.165(2).
The contributions required under (a) of this subsection shall be based on the average of the member's compensation earnable at both the time the authorized leave of absence was granted and the time the member resumed employment.
(4) A member who leaves the employ of an employer to enter the uniformed services of the United States shall be entitled to retirement system service credit for up to five years of military service. This subsection shall be administered in a manner consistent with the requirements of the federal uniformed services employment and reemployment rights act.
(a) The member qualifies for service credit under this subsection if:
(i) Within ninety days of the member's honorable discharge from the uniformed services of the United States, the member applies for reemployment with the employer who employed the member immediately prior to the member entering the uniformed services; and
(ii) The member makes the employee contributions required under RCW 41.45.061 and 41.45.067 within five years of resumption of service or prior to retirement, whichever comes sooner; or
(iii) Prior to retirement and not within ninety days of the member's honorable discharge or five years of resumption of service the member pays the amount required under RCW 41.50.165(2); or
(iv) Prior to retirement the member provides to the director proof that the member's interruptive military service was during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)). Any member who made payments for service credit for interruptive military service in a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)) may, prior to retirement and on a form provided by the department, request a refund of the funds standing to his or her credit for up to five years of such service, and this amount shall be paid to him or her. Members with one or more periods of interruptive military service during a period of war may receive no more than five years of free retirement system service credit under this subsection.
(b) Upon receipt of member contributions under (a)(ii), (d)(iii), or (e)(iii) of this subsection, or adequate proof under (a)(iv), (d)(iv), or (e)(iv) of this subsection, the department shall establish the member's service credit and shall bill the employer for its contribution required under RCW 41.45.060, 41.45.061, and 41.45.067 for the period of military service, plus interest as determined by the department.
(c) The contributions required under (a)(ii), (d)(iii), or (e)(iii) of this subsection shall be based on the compensation the member would have earned if not on leave, or if that cannot be estimated with reasonable certainty, the compensation reported for the member in the year prior to when the member went on military leave.
(d) The surviving spouse or eligible child or children of a member who left the employ of an employer to enter the uniformed services of the United States and died while serving in the uniformed services may, on behalf of the deceased member, apply for retirement system service credit under this subsection up to the date of the member's death in the uniformed services. The department shall establish the deceased member's service credit if the surviving spouse or eligible child or children:
(i) Provides to the director proof of the member's death while serving in the uniformed services;
(ii) Provides to the director proof of the member's honorable service in the uniformed services prior to the date of death; and
(iii) Pays the employee contributions required under chapter 41.45 RCW within five years of the date of death or prior to the distribution of any benefit, whichever comes first; or
(iv) Prior to the distribution of any benefit, provides to the director proof that the member's interruptive military service was during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)). If the deceased member made payments for service credit for interruptive military service during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)), the surviving spouse or eligible child or children may, prior to the distribution of any benefit and on a form provided by the department, request a refund of the funds standing to the deceased member's credit for up to five years of such service, and this amount shall be paid to the surviving spouse or eligible child or children. Members with one or more periods of interruptive military service during a period of war may receive no more than five years of free retirement system service credit under this subsection.
(e) A member who leaves the employ of an employer to enter the uniformed services of the United States and becomes totally incapacitated for continued employment by an employer while serving in the uniformed services is entitled to retirement system service credit under this subsection up to the date of discharge from the uniformed services if:
(i) The member obtains a determination from the director that he or she is totally incapacitated for continued employment due to conditions or events that occurred while serving in the uniformed services;
(ii) The member provides to the director proof of honorable discharge from the uniformed services; and
(iii) The member pays the employee contributions required under chapter 41.45 RCW within five years of the director's determination of total disability or prior to the distribution of any benefit, whichever comes first; or
(iv) Prior to retirement the member provides to the director proof that the member's interruptive military service was during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)). Any member who made payments for service credit for interruptive military service during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)) may, prior to retirement and on a form provided by the department, request a refund of the funds standing to his or her credit for up to five years of such service, and this amount shall be paid to him or her. Members with one or more periods of interruptive military service credit during a period of war may receive no more than five years of free retirement system service credit under this subsection.
Sec. 25. RCW 41.40.805 and 2009 c 205 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) A member who is on a paid leave of absence authorized by a member's employer shall continue to receive service credit.
(2) A member who receives compensation from an employer while on an authorized leave of absence to serve as an elected official of a labor organization, and whose employer is reimbursed by the labor organization for the compensation paid to the member during the period of absence, may also be considered to be on a paid leave of absence. This subsection shall only apply if the member's leave of absence is authorized by a collective bargaining agreement that provides that the member retains seniority rights with the employer during the period of leave. The earnable compensation reported for a member who establishes service credit under this subsection may not be greater than the salary paid to the highest paid job class covered by the collective bargaining agreement.
(3) Except as specified in subsection (4) of this section, a member shall be eligible to receive a maximum of two years service credit during a member's entire working career for those periods when a member is on an unpaid leave of absence authorized by an employer. Such credit may be obtained only if:
(a) The member makes the contribution on behalf of the employer, plus interest, as determined by the department; and
(b) The member makes the employee contribution, plus interest, as determined by the department, to the defined contribution portion.
The contributions required shall be based on the average of the member's earnable compensation at both the time the authorized leave of absence was granted and the time the member resumed employment.
(4) A member who leaves the employ of an employer to enter the uniformed services of the United States shall be entitled to retirement system service credit for up to five years of military service if within ninety days of the member's honorable discharge from the uniformed services of the United States, the member applies for reemployment with the employer who employed the member immediately prior to the member entering the uniformed services. This subsection shall be administered in a manner consistent with the requirements of the federal uniformed services employment and reemployment rights act.
The department shall establish the member's service credit and shall bill the employer for its contribution required under RCW 41.45.060 and 41.45.067 for the period of military service, plus interest as determined by the department. Service credit under this subsection may be obtained only if the member makes the employee contribution to the defined contribution portion as determined by the department, or prior to retirement, the member provides to the director proof that the member's interruptive military service was during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)). Any member who made payments for service credit for interruptive military service during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)) may, prior to retirement and on a form provided by the department, request a refund of the funds standing to his or her credit for up to five years of such service, and this amount shall be paid to him or her. Members with one or more periods of interruptive military service during a period of war may receive no more than five years of free retirement system service credit under this subsection.
The contributions required shall be based on the compensation the member would have earned if not on leave, or if that cannot be estimated with reasonable certainty, the compensation reported for the member in the year prior to when the member went on military leave.
(a) The surviving spouse or eligible child or children of a member who left the employ of an employer to enter the uniformed services of the United States and died while serving in the uniformed services may, on behalf of the deceased member, apply for retirement system service credit under this subsection up to the date of the member's death in the uniformed services. The department shall establish the deceased member's service credit if the surviving spouse or eligible child or children:
(i) Provides to the director proof of the member's death while serving in the uniformed services;
(ii) Provides to the director proof of the member's honorable service in the uniformed services prior to the date of death; and
(iii) Pays the employee contributions required under this subsection within five years of the date of death or prior to the distribution of any benefit, whichever comes first; or
(iv) Prior to the distribution of any benefit, provides to the director proof that the member's interruptive military service was during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)). If the deceased member made payments for service credit for interruptive military service during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)), the surviving spouse or eligible child or children may, prior to the distribution of any benefit and on a form provided by the department, request a refund of the funds standing to the deceased member's credit for up to five years of such service, and this amount shall be paid to the surviving spouse or children. Members with one or more periods of interruptive military service during a period of war may receive no more than five years of free retirement system service credit under this subsection.
(b) A member who leaves the employ of an employer to enter the uniformed services of the United States and becomes totally incapacitated for continued employment by an employer while serving in the uniformed services is entitled to retirement system service credit under this subsection up to the date of discharge from the uniformed services if:
(i) The member obtains a determination from the director that he or she is totally incapacitated for continued employment due to conditions or events that occurred while serving in the uniformed services;
(ii) The member provides to the director proof of honorable discharge from the uniformed services; and
(iii) The member pays the employee contributions required under this subsection within five years of the director's determination of total disability or prior to the distribution of any benefit, whichever comes first; or
(iv) Prior to retirement the member provides to the director proof that the member's interruptive military service was during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)). Any member who made payments for service credit for interruptive military service during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)) may, prior to retirement and on a form provided by the department, request a refund of the funds standing to his or her credit for up to five years of such service, and this amount shall be paid to him or her. Members with one or more periods of interruptive military service credit during a period of war may receive no more than five years of free retirement system service credit under this subsection.
Sec. 26. RCW 41.40.835 and 2009 c 226 s 13 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) If a member dies prior to retirement, the surviving spouse or eligible child or children shall receive a retirement allowance computed as provided in RCW 41.40.790 actuarially reduced to reflect a joint and one hundred percent survivor option and, except under subsection (2) of this section, if the member was not eligible for normal retirement at the date of death a further reduction as described in RCW 41.40.820.
If the surviving spouse who is receiving the retirement allowance dies leaving a child or children under the age of majority, then such child or children shall continue to receive an allowance in an amount equal to that which was being received by the surviving spouse, share and share alike, until such child or children reach the age of majority.
If there is no surviving spouse eligible to receive an allowance at the time of the member's death, such member's child or children under the age of majority shall receive an allowance, share and share alike. The allowance shall be calculated with the assumption that the age of the spouse and member were equal at the time of the member's death.
(2) A member who is killed in the course of employment, as determined by the director of the department of labor and industries, or a member who has left the employ of an employer due to service in the national guard or military reserves and dies while honorably serving in the national guard or military reserves during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)), is not subject to an actuarial reduction under RCW 41.40.820. The member's retirement allowance is computed under RCW 41.40.790.
Sec. 27. RCW 43.43.260 and 2009 c 522 s 2 and 2009 c 205 s 9 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
Upon retirement from service as provided in RCW 43.43.250, a member shall be granted a retirement allowance which shall consist of:
(1) A prior service allowance which shall be equal to two percent of the member's average final salary multiplied by the number of years of prior service rendered by the member.
(2) A current service allowance which shall be equal to two percent of the member's average final salary multiplied by the number of years of service rendered while a member of the retirement system.
(3)(a) Any member commissioned prior to January 1, 2003, with twenty-five years service in the Washington state patrol may have the member's service in the uniformed services credited as a member whether or not the individual left the employ of the Washington state patrol to enter such uniformed services: PROVIDED, That in no instance shall military service in excess of five years be credited: AND PROVIDED FURTHER, That in each instance, a member must restore all withdrawn accumulated contributions, which restoration must be completed on the date of the member's retirement, or as provided under RCW 43.43.130, whichever occurs first: AND PROVIDED FURTHER, That this section shall not apply to any individual, not a veteran within the meaning of RCW 41.06.150.
(b) A member who leaves the Washington state patrol to enter the uniformed services of the United States shall be entitled to retirement system service credit for up to five years of military service. This subsection shall be administered in a manner consistent with the requirements of the federal uniformed services employment and reemployment rights act.
(i) The member qualifies for service credit under this subsection if:
(A) Within ninety days of the member's honorable discharge from the uniformed services of the United States, the member applies for reemployment with the employer who employed the member immediately prior to the member entering the uniformed services; and
(B) The member makes the employee contributions required under RCW 41.45.0631 and 41.45.067 within five years of resumption of service or prior to retirement, whichever comes sooner; or
(C) Prior to retirement and not within ninety days of the member's honorable discharge or five years of resumption of service the member pays the amount required under RCW 41.50.165(2); or
(D) If the member was commissioned on or after January 1, 2003, and, prior to retirement, the member provides to the director proof that the member's interruptive military service was during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)). Any member who made payments for service credit for interruptive military service during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)) may, prior to retirement and on a form provided by the department, request a refund of the funds standing to his or her credit for up to five years of such service, and this amount shall be paid to him or her. Members with one or more periods of interruptive military service credit during a period of war may receive no more than five years of free retirement system service credit under this subsection.
(ii) Upon receipt of member contributions under (b)(i)(B), (b)(iv)(C), and (b)(v)(C) of this subsection, or adequate proof under (b)(i)(D), (b)(iv)(D), or (b)(v)(D) of this subsection, the department shall establish the member's service credit and shall bill the employer for its contribution required under RCW 41.45.060 for the period of military service, plus interest as determined by the department.
(iii) The contributions required under (b)(i)(B), (b)(iv)(C), and (b)(v)(C) of this subsection shall be based on the compensation the member would have earned if not on leave, or if that cannot be estimated with reasonable certainty, the compensation reported for the member in the year prior to when the member went on military leave.
(iv) The surviving spouse or lawful domestic partner or eligible child or children of a member who left the employ of an employer to enter the uniformed services of the United States and died while serving in the uniformed services may, on behalf of the deceased member, apply for retirement system service credit under this subsection up to the date of the member's death in the uniformed services. The department shall establish the deceased member's service credit if the surviving spouse or lawful domestic partner or eligible child or children:
(A) Provides to the director proof of the member's death while serving in the uniformed services;
(B) Provides to the director proof of the member's honorable service in the uniformed services prior to the date of death; and
(C) If the member was commissioned on or after January 1, 2003, pays the employee contributions required under chapter 41.45 RCW within five years of the date of death or prior to the distribution of any benefit, whichever comes first; or
(D) If the member was commissioned on or after January 1, 2003, and, prior to the distribution of any benefit, provides to the director proof that the member's interruptive military service was during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)). If the deceased member made payments for service credit for interruptive military service during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)), the surviving spouse or eligible child or children may, prior to the distribution of any benefit and on a form provided by the department, request a refund of the funds standing to the deceased member's credit for up to five years of such service, and this amount shall be paid to the surviving spouse or children. Members with one or more periods of interruptive military service during a period of war may receive no more than five years of free retirement system service credit under this subsection.
(v) A member who leaves the employ of an employer to enter the uniformed services of the United States and becomes totally incapacitated for continued employment by an employer while serving in the uniformed services is entitled to retirement system service credit under this subsection up to the date of discharge from the uniformed services if:
(A) The member obtains a determination from the director that he or she is totally incapacitated for continued employment due to conditions or events that occurred while serving in the uniformed services;
(B) The member provides to the director proof of honorable discharge from the uniformed services; and
(C) If the member was commissioned on or after January 1, 2003, the member pays the employee contributions required under chapter 41.45 RCW within five years of the director's determination of total disability or prior to the distribution of any benefit, whichever comes first; or
(D) If the member was commissioned on or after January 1, 2003, and, prior to retirement, the member provides to the director proof that the member's interruptive military service was during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)). Any member who made payments for service credit for interruptive military service during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)) may, prior to retirement and on a form provided by the department, request a refund of the funds standing to his or her credit for up to five years of such service, and this amount shall be paid to him or her. Members with one or more periods of interruptive military service during a period of war may receive no more than five years of free retirement system service credit under this subsection.
(4) In no event shall the total retirement benefits from subsections (1), (2), and (3) of this section, of any member exceed seventy-five percent of the member's average final salary.
(5) Beginning July 1, 2001, and every year thereafter, the department shall determine the following information for each retired member or beneficiary whose retirement allowance has been in effect for at least one year:
(a) The original dollar amount of the retirement allowance;
(b) The index for the calendar year prior to the effective date of the retirement allowance, to be known as "index A";
(c) The index for the calendar year prior to the date of determination, to be known as "index B"; and
(d) The ratio obtained when index B is divided by index A.
The value of the ratio obtained shall be the annual adjustment to the original retirement allowance and shall be applied beginning with the July payment. In no event, however, shall the annual adjustment:
(i) Produce a retirement allowance which is lower than the original retirement allowance;
(ii) Exceed three percent in the initial annual adjustment; or
(iii) Differ from the previous year's annual adjustment by more than three percent.
For the purposes of this section, "index" means, for any calendar year, that year's average consumer price index for the Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton Washington area for urban wage earners and clerical workers, all items, compiled by the bureau of labor statistics, United States department of labor.
The provisions of this section shall apply to all members presently retired and to all members who shall retire in the future.
Sec. 28. RCW 43.43.270 and 2009 c 522 s 3 and 2009 c 226 s 3 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
For members commissioned prior to January 1, 2003:
(1) The normal form of retirement allowance shall be an allowance which shall continue as long as the member lives.
(2) If a member should die while in service, or a member leaves the employ of the employer due to service in the national guard or military reserves and dies while honorably serving in the national guard or military reserves during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)), the member's lawful spouse or lawful domestic partner shall be paid an allowance which shall be equal to fifty percent of the average final salary of the member. If the member should die after retirement the member's lawful spouse or lawful domestic partner shall be paid an allowance which shall be equal to the retirement allowance then payable to the member or fifty percent of the final average salary used in computing the member's retirement allowance, whichever is less. The allowance paid to the lawful spouse or lawful domestic partner shall continue as long as the spouse or domestic partner lives: PROVIDED, That if a surviving spouse or domestic partner who is receiving benefits under this subsection marries, or enters into a domestic partnership with, another member of this retirement system who subsequently predeceases such spouse or domestic partner, the spouse or domestic partner shall then be entitled to receive the higher of the two survivors' allowances for which eligibility requirements were met, but a surviving spouse or domestic partner shall not receive more than one survivor's allowance from this system at the same time under this subsection. To be eligible for an allowance the lawful surviving spouse or lawful domestic partner of a retired member shall have been married to, or in a domestic partnership with, the member prior to the member's retirement and continuously thereafter until the date of the member's death or shall have been married to, or in a domestic partnership with, the retired member at least two years prior to the member's death. The allowance paid to the lawful spouse or lawful domestic partner may be divided with an ex spouse or ex domestic partner of the member by a dissolution order as defined in RCW 41.50.500(3) incident to a dissolution occurring after July 1, 2002. The dissolution order must specifically divide both the member's benefit and any spousal or domestic partner survivor benefit, and must fully comply with RCW 41.50.670 and 41.50.700.
(3) If a member should die, either while in service or after retirement, the member's surviving unmarried children under the age of eighteen years shall be provided for in the following manner:
(a) If there is a surviving spouse or domestic partner, each child shall be entitled to a benefit equal to five percent of the final average salary of the member or retired member. The combined benefits to the surviving spouse or domestic partner and all children shall not exceed sixty percent of the final average salary of the member or retired member; and
(b) If there is no surviving spouse or domestic partner or the spouse or domestic partner should die, the child or children shall be entitled to a benefit equal to thirty percent of the final average salary of the member or retired member for one child and an additional ten percent for each additional child. The combined benefits to the children under this subsection shall not exceed sixty percent of the final average salary of the member or retired member. Payments under this subsection shall be prorated equally among the children, if more than one.
(4) If a member should die in the line of duty while employed by the Washington state patrol, or a member leaves the employ of the employer due to service in the national guard or military reserves and dies while honorably serving in the national guard or military reserves during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)), the member's surviving children under the age of twenty years and eleven months if attending any high school, college, university, or vocational or other educational institution accredited or approved by the state of Washington shall be provided for in the following manner:
(a) If there is a surviving spouse or domestic partner, each child shall be entitled to a benefit equal to five percent of the final average salary of the member. The combined benefits to the surviving spouse or domestic partner and all children shall not exceed sixty percent of the final average salary of the member;
(b) If there is no surviving spouse or domestic partner or the spouse or domestic partner should die, the unmarried child or children shall be entitled to receive a benefit equal to thirty percent of the final average salary of the member or retired member for one child and an additional ten percent for each additional child. The combined benefits to the children under this subsection shall not exceed sixty percent of the final average salary. Payments under this subsection shall be prorated equally among the children, if more than one; and
(c) If a beneficiary under this subsection reaches the age of twenty-one years during the middle of a term of enrollment the benefit shall continue until the end of that term.
(5)(a) The provisions of this section shall apply to members who have been retired on disability as provided in RCW 43.43.040 if the officer was a member of the Washington state patrol retirement system at the time of such disability retirement.
(b) For the purposes of this subsection, average final salary as used in subsection (2) of this section means:
(i) For members commissioned prior to January 1, 2003, the average monthly salary received by active members of the patrol of the rank at which the member became disabled, during the two years prior to the death of the disabled member; and
(ii) For members commissioned on or after January 1, 2003, the average monthly salary received by active members of the patrol of the rank at which the member became disabled, during the five years prior to the death of the disabled member.
(c) The changes to the definitions of average final salary for the survivors of disabled members in this subsection shall apply retroactively. The department shall correct future payments to eligible survivors of members disabled prior to June 7, 2006, and, as soon as administratively practicable, pay each survivor a lump sum payment reflecting the difference, as determined by the director, between the survivor benefits previously received by the member, and those the member would have received under the definitions of average final salary created in chapter 94, Laws of 2006.
Sec. 29. RCW 43.43.295 and 2010 c 261 s 6 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) For members commissioned on or after January 1, 2003, except as provided in RCW 11.07.010, if a member or a vested member who has not completed at least ten years of service dies, the amount of the accumulated contributions standing to such member's credit in the retirement system at the time of such member's death, less any amount identified as owing to an obligee upon withdrawal of accumulated contributions pursuant to a court order filed under RCW 41.50.670, shall be paid to the member's estate, or such person or persons, trust, or organization as the member shall have nominated by written designation duly executed and filed with the department. If there be no such designated person or persons still living at the time of the member's death, such member's accumulated contributions standing to such member's credit in the retirement system, less any amount identified as owing to an obligee upon withdrawal of accumulated contributions pursuant to a court order filed under RCW 41.50.670, shall be paid to the member's surviving spouse or domestic partner as if in fact such spouse or domestic partner had been nominated by written designation, or if there be no such surviving spouse or domestic partner, then to such member's legal representatives.
(2) If a member who is killed in the course of employment or a member who is eligible for retirement or a member who has completed at least ten years of service dies, the surviving spouse or domestic partner or eligible child or children shall elect to receive either:
(a) A retirement allowance computed as provided for in RCW 43.43.260, actuarially reduced, except under subsection (4) of this section, by the amount of any lump sum benefit identified as owing to an obligee upon withdrawal of accumulated contributions pursuant to a court order filed under RCW 41.50.670 and actuarially adjusted to reflect a joint and one hundred percent survivor option under RCW 43.43.278 and if the member was not eligible for normal retirement at the date of death a further reduction from age fifty-five or when the member could have attained twenty-five years of service, whichever is less; if a surviving spouse or domestic partner who is receiving a retirement allowance dies leaving a child or children of the member under the age of majority, then such child or children shall continue to receive an allowance in an amount equal to that which was being received by the surviving spouse or domestic partner, share and share alike, until such child or children reach the age of majority; if there is no surviving spouse or domestic partner eligible to receive an allowance at the time of the member's death, such member's child or children under the age of majority shall receive an allowance share and share alike calculated under this section making the assumption that the ages of the spouse or domestic partner and member were equal at the time of the member's death; or
(b)(i) The member's accumulated contributions, less any amount identified as owing to an obligee upon withdrawal of accumulated contributions pursuant to a court order filed under RCW 41.50.670; or
(ii) If the member dies, one hundred fifty percent of the member's accumulated contributions, less any amount identified as owing to an obligee upon withdrawal of accumulated contributions pursuant to a court order filed under RCW 41.50.670. Any accumulated contributions attributable to restorations made under RCW 41.50.165(2) shall be refunded at one hundred percent.
(3) If a member who is eligible for retirement or a member who has completed at least ten years of service dies, and is not survived by a spouse or domestic partner or an eligible child, then the accumulated contributions standing to the member's credit, less any amount identified as owing to an obligee upon withdrawal of accumulated contributions pursuant to a court order filed under RCW 41.50.670, shall be paid:
(a) To an estate, a person or persons, trust, or organization as the member shall have nominated by written designation duly executed and filed with the department; or
(b) If there is no such designated person or persons still living at the time of the member's death, then to the member's legal representatives.
(4) The retirement allowance of a member who is killed in the course of employment, as determined by the director of the department of labor and industries, or the retirement allowance of a member who has left the employ of an employer due to service in the national guard or military reserves and dies while honorably serving in the national guard or military reserves during a period of war ((as defined in RCW 41.04.005)), is not subject to an actuarial reduction for early retirement if the member was not eligible for normal retirement or an actuarial reduction to reflect a joint and one hundred percent survivor option under RCW 43.43.278. The member is entitled to a minimum retirement allowance equal to ten percent of such member's final average salary. The member shall additionally receive a retirement allowance equal to two percent of such member's average final salary for each year of service beyond five."
SB 6418 - S AMD 1064
By Senator Muzzall
On page 1, line 1 of the title, after "pensions;" strike the remainder of the title and insert "amending RCW 41.26.030, 41.32.010, 41.35.010, 41.37.010, 41.40.010, 43.43.120, 41.26.160, 41.26.510, 41.26.520, 41.32.520, 41.32.805, 41.32.810, 41.32.865, 41.32.895, 41.35.460, 41.35.470, 41.35.650, 41.35.710, 41.37.250, 41.37.260, 41.40.700, 41.40.710, 41.40.805, 41.40.835, and 43.43.295; reenacting and amending RCW 41.40.270, 43.43.260, and 43.43.270; and adding a new section to chapter 41.50 RCW."
EFFECT: Makes the changed definition of a period of war apply to interruptive service credit for all the state's pension systems.
--- END ---