FINAL BILL REPORT

SHB 2895

C 362 L 02

Synopsis as Enacted

Brief Description:  Allowing port employees to join more than one retirement plan subject to a labor agreement.

Sponsors:  By House Committee on Appropriations (originally sponsored by Representatives Kessler, Chase and Ogden).

House Committee on Appropriations

Senate Committee on Ways & Means

Background:

Before 1999, Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) employers were prohibited from providing additional retirement plans (such as employer-sponsored 401K plans) to their employees.  This excluded from PERS membership employees who were covered either by another state pension plan or by an independent employer-sponsored defined contribution plan.

Legislation enacted in 1999 authorized PERS employers to offer an employer‑sponsored defined contribution plan qualified under Section 401 of the Internal Revenue Code.  This legislation failed to amend a section affecting port employees, however, so that the prohibition on participation in employer-sponsored defined contribution plans still applies to port employees.

Summary:

A port district may enter into an agreement authorizing specified deductions from employee salaries for the purposes of participation in a private pension plan.  No port district funds may be contributed to plans that are subject to the agreement.  The prohibition on PERS members who are port employees from participating in a private pension plan is removed.  No private pension plan in operation prior to December 31, 2001, will be invalidated as a result of these changes.  Participation in such a private pension plan will not exclude members from membership in PERS.

Votes on Final Passage:

House980

Senate460

Effective:  June 13, 2002