Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

Z-0511.1
                                 HOUSE BILL 1949
     State of Washington         68th Legislature       2024 Regular Session
     By Representatives Leavitt, Schmidt, Ryu, Callan, Doglio, Reed,
     Ormsby, Fosse, Reeves, and Davis; by request of Department of Social
     and Health Services
     Prefiled 12/14/23.    Read first time 01/08/24.   Referred to Committee
     on Appropriations.
      AN ACT Relating to including in the public safety employees'
  retirement system specified competency restoration workers at
  department   of  social   and health  services  institutional  and
  residential sites that serve civilly committed residents or serve
  patients under not guilty by reason of insanity findings; amending
  RCW 41.37.010; adding a new section to chapter 41.37 RCW; and
  providing an effective date.
 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
     Sec. 1.   RCW 41.37.010 and 2023 c 199 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.
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     (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;
     (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; and
     (iii) Any compensation forgone by a member during the 2019-2021
 and 2021-2023 fiscal biennia as a result of reduced work hours,
 mandatory leave without pay, temporary layoffs, furloughs, reductions
 to current pay, or other similar measures resulting from the COVID-19
 budgetary crisis, 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
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 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
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 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)(a) "Employer" means:
     (i) The Washington state department of corrections;
     (ii) The Washington state parks and recreation commission;
     (iii) The Washington state gambling commission;
     (iv) The Washington state patrol;
     (v) The Washington state department of natural resources;
     (vi) The Washington state liquor and cannabis board;
     (vii) The Washington state department of veterans affairs;
     (viii) The Washington state department of children, youth, and
 families;
     (ix) The Washington state department of social and health
 services;
     (x) Any county corrections department;
     (xi) Any city corrections department not covered under chapter
 41.28 RCW;
     (xii) Any public corrections entity created under RCW 39.34.030
 by counties, cities not covered under chapter 41.28 RCW, or both; and
     (xiii) Any employer participating in the public employees'
 retirement system in chapter 41.40 RCW, some or all of whose
 employees' primary responsibility is to receive, process, transmit,
 or dispatch 911 emergency and nonemergency calls for law enforcement,
 fire, emergency medical, or other public safety services that is not
 already covered by the provisions of this subsection.
     (b) 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
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 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;
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     (ii) Mental health hospitals;
     (iii) Child study and treatment centers; or
     (iv) Institutions or residential sites that serve developmentally
 disabled patients or offenders, or perform competency restoration
 services, or serve civilly committed residents, or serve patients
 under not guilty by reason of insanity findings, 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;
     (f) Whose primary responsibility is to receive, process,
 transmit, or dispatch 911 emergency and nonemergency calls for law
 enforcement, fire, emergency medical, or other public safety
 services, or to supervise those employees; or
     (g) 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) "Plan" means the Washington public safety employees'
 retirement system plan 2.
     (23) "Regular interest" means such rate as the director may
 determine.
     (24) "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) "Retirement" means withdrawal from active service with a
 retirement allowance as provided by this chapter.
     (26) "Retirement allowance" means monthly payments to a retiree
 or beneficiary as provided in this chapter.
     (27) "Retirement system" means the Washington public safety
 employees' retirement system provided for in this chapter.
     (28) "Separation from service" occurs when a person has
 terminated all employment with an employer.
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     (29) "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.
     (c) Reduction efforts such as furloughs, reduced work hours,
 mandatory leave without pay, temporary layoffs, or other similar
 situations as contemplated by subsection (5)(b)(iii) of this section
 do not result in a reduction in service credit that otherwise would
 have been earned for that month of work, and the member shall receive
 the full service credit for the hours that were scheduled to be
 worked before the reduction.
     (30) "Service credit month" means a month or an accumulation of
 months of service credit which is equal to one.
     (31) "Service credit year" means an accumulation of months of
 service credit which is equal to one when divided by twelve.
     (32) "State actuary" or "actuary" means the person appointed
 pursuant to RCW 44.44.010(2).
     (33) "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) "State treasurer" means the treasurer of the state of
 Washington.
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     NEW SECTION.   Sec. 2.   A new section is added to chapter 41.37
 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) An employee of an employer as defined in RCW 41.37.010 who
 was a member of the public employees' retirement system plan 2 or
 plan 3 before the effective date of this section, and on the
 effective date of this section, meets the eligibility requirements as
 set forth in RCW 41.37.010(19)(d)(iv) has the following options
 during the election period defined in subsection (2) of this section:
     (a) To remain in the public employees' retirement system in the
 employee's current plan; or
     (b) To become a member of the public safety employees' retirement
 system plan 2 and be a dual member as provided in chapter 41.54 RCW.
 Any service credit the employee accrued in the public employees'
 retirement system service credit may not be transferred to the public
 safety employees' retirement system.
     (2) The "election period" is the period between the effective
 date of this section and September 1, 2025.
     (3) During the election period, employees who are employed by an
 employer as defined in RCW 41.37.