Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

CERTIFICATION OF ENROLLMENT
                ENGROSSED SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5424
                       Chapter 319, Laws of 2024
                               68th Legislature
                             2024 Regular Session
          LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES—FLEXIBLE WORK POLICIES
 EFFECTIVE DATE: June 6, 2024—Except for section 4, which takes
                      effect July 1, 2025.
Passed by the Senate March 4, 2024                   CERTIFICATE
  Yeas 48 Nays 0
                                        I, Sarah Bannister, Secretary of
                                        the   Senate   of  the   State   of
              DENNY HECK                Washington, do hereby certify that
President of the Senate                 the     attached   is     ENGROSSED
                                        SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5424      as
                                        passed by the Senate and the House
                                        of Representatives on the dates
Passed by the House February 28, 2024   hereon set forth.
  Yeas 96 Nays 0
                                                  SARAH BANNISTER
            LAURIE JINKINS
                                                                     Secretary
Speaker of the House of
Representatives
Approved March 28, 2024 10:31 AM                        FILED
                                                    March 29, 2024
                                                Secretary of State
              JAY INSLEE                        State of Washington
Governor of the State of Washington
                     ENGROSSED SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5424
                            AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE
                   Passed Legislature - 2024 Regular Session
     State of Washington         68th Legislature     2023 Regular Session
     By Senate Labor & Commerce (originally sponsored by Senators Lovick,
     Holy, Dhingra, Frame, Keiser, Kuderer, Shewmake, Stanford, Valdez,
     Warnick, and Wellman)
     READ FIRST TIME 02/01/23.
      AN ACT Relating to flexible work for general and limited
  authority   Washington  peace   officers; amending RCW 41.26.030,
  41.26.030, and 43.101.010; reenacting and amending RCW 10.93.020;
  adding a new section to chapter 49.28 RCW; providing an effective
  date; and providing an expiration date.
 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
     NEW SECTION.   Sec. 1.   A new section is added to chapter 49.28
 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) Every general authority and limited authority Washington law
 enforcement agency may adopt a flexible work policy. The policy may
 allow for general authority and limited authority Washington peace
 officers to work at less than full time when feasible, such as
 supplementing work during peak hours with part-time officers. The
 flexible work policy may include alternative shift and work schedules
 that fit the needs of the law enforcement agency.
     (2) The flexible work policy adopted in subsection (1) of this
 section may require an officer have a certain number of years of
 experience as a full-time officer or have additional training for the
 officer to work part time or be eligible for any other types of
 flexible work.
                                       p. 1                    ESSB 5424.SL
     (3) The flexible work policy adopted in subsection (1) of this
 section may not cause the layoff or otherwise displace any full-time
 officer.
     (4) This section does not alter any existing collective
 bargaining unit, the provisions of any existing collective bargaining
 agreement, or the duty of a law enforcement agency to meet their duty
 to bargain under chapter 41.56 or 41.80 RCW. Full-time and part-time
 officers working for the same law enforcement agency who are covered
 by a collective bargaining agreement must be in the same bargaining
 unit.
     (5) This section does not alter any laws or workplace policies
 relating to restrictions on secondary employment for general
 authority and limited authority Washington peace officers.
     (6) For the purposes of this section, the definitions in this
 subsection apply.
     (a) "General authority and limited authority Washington law
 enforcement agency" has the same meaning as "general authority
 Washington law enforcement agency" and "limited authority Washington
 law enforcement agency" as defined in RCW 10.93.020 (3) and (5),
 respectively.
     (b) "General authority and limited authority Washington peace
 officers" has the same meaning as "general authority Washington peace
 officer" and "limited authority Washington peace officer" as defined
 in RCW 10.93.020 (4) and (6), respectively.
     Sec. 2.   RCW 10.93.020 and 2021 c 318 s 307 are each reenacted
 and amended to read as follows:
     As used in this chapter, the following terms have the meanings
 indicated unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
     (1) "Agency with primary territorial jurisdiction" means a city
 or town police agency which has responsibility for police activity
 within its boundaries; or a county police or sheriff's department
 which has responsibility with regard to police activity in the
 unincorporated areas within the county boundaries; or a statutorily
 authorized port district police agency or four-year state college or
 university police agency which has responsibility for police activity
 within the statutorily authorized enforcement boundaries of the port
 district, state college, or university.
     (2) "Federal peace officer" means any employee or agent of the
 United States government who has the authority to carry firearms and
                                     p. 2                     ESSB 5424.SL
 make warrantless arrests and whose duties involve the enforcement of
 criminal laws of the United States.
     (3) "General authority Washington 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, as distinguished from a limited authority Washington
 law enforcement agency, and any other unit of government expressly
 designated by statute as a general authority Washington law
 enforcement agency. The Washington state patrol and the department of
 fish and wildlife are general authority Washington law enforcement
 agencies.
     (4) "General authority Washington peace officer" means any
 ((full-time,)) fully compensated and elected, appointed, or employed
 officer of a general authority Washington law enforcement agency who
 is commissioned to enforce the criminal laws of the state of
 Washington generally.
     (5) "Limited authority Washington law enforcement agency" means
 any agency, political subdivision, or unit of local government of
 this state, and any agency, department, or division of state
 government, 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, the office of the insurance commissioner, the state
 department   of   corrections,   and   the  office   of   independent
 investigations.
     (6) "Limited authority Washington peace officer" means any
 ((full-time,)) fully compensated officer of a limited authority
 Washington law enforcement agency empowered by that agency to detect
 or apprehend violators of the laws in some or all of the limited
 subject areas for which that agency is responsible. A limited
 authority Washington peace officer may be a specially commissioned
 Washington peace officer if otherwise qualified for such status under
 this chapter.
                                     p. 3                     ESSB 5424.SL
     (7) "Mutual law enforcement assistance" includes, but is not
 limited to, one or more law enforcement agencies aiding or assisting
 one or more other such agencies through loans or exchanges of
 personnel or of material resources, for law enforcement purposes.
     (8) "Primary commissioning agency" means (a) the employing agency
 in the case of a general authority Washington peace officer, a
 limited authority Washington peace officer, a tribal peace officer
 from a federally recognized tribe, or a federal peace officer, and
 (b) the commissioning agency in the case of a specially commissioned
 Washington peace officer (i) who is performing functions within the
 course and scope of the special commission and (ii) who is not also a
 general authority Washington peace officer, a limited authority
 Washington peace officer, a tribal peace officer from a federally
 recognized tribe, or a federal peace officer.
     (9) "Primary function of an agency" means that function to which
 greater than fifty percent of the agency's resources are allocated.
     (10) "Reserve officer" means any person who does not serve as a
 regularly employed, fully compensated peace officer of this state,
 but who, when called by an agency into active service, is fully
 commissioned on the same basis as regularly employed, fully
 compensated officers to enforce the criminal laws of this state.
     (11) "Specially commissioned Washington peace officer," for the
 purposes of this chapter, means any officer, whether part-time or
 full-time, compensated or not, commissioned by a general authority
 Washington law enforcement agency to enforce some or all of the
 criminal laws of the state of Washington, who does not qualify under
 this chapter as a general authority Washington peace officer for that
 commissioning agency, specifically including reserve peace officers,
 and specially commissioned full-time, fully compensated peace
 officers duly commissioned by the states of Oregon or Idaho or any
 such peace officer commissioned by a unit of local government of
 Oregon or Idaho. ((A reserve peace officer is an individual who is an
 officer of a Washington law enforcement agency who does not serve
 such agency on a full-time basis but who, when called by the agency
 into active service, is fully commissioned on the same basis as full-
 time peace officers to enforce the criminal laws of the state.))
     Sec. 3.   RCW 41.26.030 and 2021 c 12 s 2 are each amended to read
 as follows:
                                      p. 4                     ESSB 5424.SL
     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.
                                     p. 5                     ESSB 5424.SL
     (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.
                                     p. 6                     ESSB 5424.SL
     (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, district, or regional fire
 protection service authority 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, public corporation, or regional fire protection service
 authority 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 othe