State actuary says Wash pensions in good shape – with some real risks in view
State Actuary Matt Smith’s latest report on the financial health of Washington’s public-employee pensions says the outlook is for continued improvement despite a financial dip over the past few years. But Smith still thinks the state needs to ratchet down its investment return assumptions to 7.5 percent by 2021-23 – a move the Legislature has only half-accepted.
Smith’s biennial report on pension health also cautions that state and local governments face a potential $1.3 billion financial hit in 2015-17 if two legal challenges to legislative reforms are overturned by the State Supreme Court.