Re: “Don’t treat state’s pension surplus like a slush fund” (June 11, Opinion):
Thanks for calling out Washington Home Democrats’ fiscally irresponsible proposal to make use of extra pension funds as a onetime stopgap to lower the finances deficit.
Because of poor planning, the Regulation Enforcement Officers and Fireplace Fighters Plan 1 fund is overfunded by practically $3 billion. Equally poor planning considerably underfunded Lecturers’ Retirement System Plan 1 and Public Staff’ Retirement System Plan 1 funds. To lower that deficit, legislators in 2011 took away from TRS/PERS 1 retirees the yearly price of dwelling changes given retirees in all different state pension plans. Since 2010 these, the state’s oldest pensioners, have been granted solely 5 COLAs.
Washington’s Senate acknowledged the injustice of depriving one group the inflation safety given members of all different pension plans. Senators handed SSB 5085, merging the three Plan 1 funds, making certain that police and firefighters proceed to obtain full pensions and restoring the COLAs unfairly taken away from different Plan 1 retirees. Home Democrats refused to vote on the invoice and referred it to the Choose Committee on Pension Coverage.
Home members will once more have the chance to approve the invoice in 2026. Allow us to hope they may settle for that pension funds are for pensions not slush funds.
Edith Ruby, Seattle
