The bill amends Washington state retirement system laws to improve the actuarial funding processes for public employee retirement systems. It establishes a dependable funding process aimed at fully amortizing costs associated with various retirement plans by specific deadlines, including June 30, 2024, for the law enforcement officers' and firefighters' retirement system plan 1. Key provisions include suspending contribution rates during the 2025-2027 and 2027-2029 fiscal biennia and amortizing costs of benefit improvements over a fixed 15-year period. The bill also revises long-term economic assumptions, lowering growth rates for inflation, salaries, investment returns, and system membership, while ensuring that employer contribution rates are calculated to fully fund retirement plans.

Additionally, the bill introduces new supplemental rates for several retirement systems, including the public employees' retirement system and the teachers' retirement system, to fund benefit increases for active and retired members. It modifies the calculation of these rates by extending the period for automatic postretirement adjustments from ten years to fifteen years and specifies that supplemental rates will be charged to all system employers. The legislation also revises minimum contribution rates for the public employees' and public safety employees' retirement systems, establishing a minimum of 3.50% for certain periods. The act is deemed necessary for the immediate preservation of public peace, health, or safety, and is set to take effect on July 1, 2025.

Statutes affected:
Original Bill: 41.45.010, 41.45.060, 41.45.030
Bill as Passed Legislature: 41.45.010, 41.45.035, 41.45.060, 41.45.030, 41.45.150
Session Law: 41.45.010, 41.45.035, 41.45.060, 41.45.030, 41.45.150