Lawmakers must commit to proper funding of public employee pension benefits
LEGISLATORS should pass the proposed constitutional amendment, Senate Joint Resolution 8214 and its companion House Joint Resolution 4219, to require proper funding of public employee pension benefits. The issue requires two-thirds of both houses and a vote of the people in November.
Legislators may have thought they were done when, in the last day of the ordinary session, they passed a bill stripping the 3 percent annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) out of the state Plan 1 pensions. This bill, assuming Gov. Chris Gregoire signs it, ends future increases to more than 500,000 beneficiaries.