The first LEOFF 1/LEOFF 2 merger study meeting held on August 30, 2011 at the Department of Retirement Systems in Olympia was somewhat uneventful. I was not able to attend due to a rescheduled surgery that required an overnight stay in the hospital. RFFOW Director Randy Plain and Jerry Taylor, President of Seattle Police Retired Officers Association were in attendance. Some in attendance represented a group or an organization while some may have only represented themselves. Others, in attendance may not attend the next meeting while others who didn't attend the first meeting could very well attend any future meetings if scheduled. I don't know what was actually discussed, as of this date September 25, 2011 no minutes have been forwarded.

The purpose of the meeting was to identify issues related to any future attempt to merge the two firefighters and law enforcement officers' retirement systems and not to discuss HB 2097 that was introduced during the last session to merge the LEOFF1 and LEOFF 2 Retirement Systems. Under Chapter 50, Laws of 2011, the Office of the State Actuary (OSA) is required to study the issue of merging the Law Enforcement Officers and Firefighters Retirement System (LEOFF) Plan 1 and Plan2. As part of the study, OSA is required to solicit input from the LEOFF 2 Board, and organizations representing LEOFF 1 members and retirees. OSA will also solicit input from employers of LEOFF members.

Although the legislature directed the Actuary to conduct the study, he directed a staff member of the Department of Retirement Systems to chair the meeting. There was no attempt or no provision to elect a chairperson. To my knowledge there was no discussion as to if the meeting would be conducted by consensus or by Parliamentary Rules of Order. I submitted a letter with the following suggestions:

• Merger benefits as outlined in the DRS letter for discussion. The benefits should be listed and identified as a benefit for which group, department, agency pension plan or membership.
• We must have a current fiscal analysis from the State Actuary for each pension plan before and after a merger including any possible impact to any group, department, agency, pension plan or member.
• The Washington State Council of Firefighters is on record as having told legislators that the merger is legal and constitutional. This same statement was repeated by several legislators. This information should be made available to the committee by the Washington State Council of Firefighters to expedite the process.
• The committee should be advised by DRS of any IRS concerns and of any, inquiries the Department has made.
• All legal opinions or any other information the LEOFF 2 Board or Director Steve Nelson received from Attorney Robert Klausner or from the law form of Ice Miller should be available to the committee.
• We should reduce the merger committee or discussion panel down to a group easier to manage to enhance the opportunity for a speedy and viable conclusion. I would suggest no more than two representatives from each group.

I was told that my letter was entered into the record but the suggestions were not discussed.

Our request for the release of the legal opinions obtained by the LEOFF 2 Board was again denied. We have asked the State Actuary to file an appeal to the Attorney General for the release of the legal opinions. At this point there was no assurance that there would be a second meeting. When you consider the three questions that were sent out in advance by the Actuary, one would have to question the purpose or intent of getting such information:

• If a plan merger took place, what would be the goals or benefits?
• If a plan merger took place, what concerns would be raised?
• What questions would lawmakers want to consider before enacting a merger?

When you evaluate the individual questions you would have to wonder if the purpose of the meeting is to identify the issues as a road map to drafting a future bill. Then again, this could be a sincere effort to outline the issues the legislature would have to consider before passing legislation to merge the two systems.

In a follow-up meeting with the State Actuary we were told that there may not be a second meeting. We were also told that some of the issues may be referred to the Attorney General for an opinion agreeing that such an opinion could be months away. In addition we were advised that the so called study group is not a merger committee or panel. It is more like a town hall meeting. In a town hall meeting one person in 100 can make a statement and without a consensus or parliamentary rule you could never determine the desire of the majority. The only information to be reported will be what the person taking notes determines to be relevant. Any legislative history, court decisions, prior or current legal opinions are apparently irrelevant. We are now considering other options and will report next month.

Please mark your calendars now for the RFFOW Christmas Luncheon: 11:00 AM, Wednesday December 14, 2011 at the Ballard Elks. The Ballard Elks is located at 6411 Seaview Ave NW, Seattle, WA 98107. The banquet room is on the second floor with elevator service. There will be a no host bar, a beautiful view weather permitting and ample parking. We have been allowed to retain our own catering service. The caterer that provided the excellent service at last year's luncheon has retired, however she recommended the caterer that will be serving us this year at the Ballard Elks. To offer the service you deserve we will again have sit down table service. We will have the traditional holiday menu with salad, dessert, coffee, tea rolls and butter. In respect to the ladies we will have linen tablecloths and napkins.

For those of you who have attended in the past we hope to see you again. For those of you who live within the immediate area and who have not joined us in the past, please seriously consider this invitation. The Luncheon is a wonderful opportunity to meet new friends and see old acquaintances. Remember, if there is no one in particular whom you would like to see, there are several members who would like to see you! The ticket price is $25.00 per person. Guests are also welcome. Please make your reservation by sending your check and the names of those attending to RFFOW Christmas Luncheon, 9134 207th PL SW, Edmonds, WA 98026.

There has been some confusion regarding the medical insurance provided by the Seattle Firefighters Healthcare Trust, administrated by Benefit Solutions 206-859-2600, ext. 2713. I must state that I have talked to Nancy Grier (ext. 2713) and with Nancy's assistant Susan (ext. 2608) several times and have found them both to be very knowledgeable and willing to assist. The recent issue was regarding eye glasses. The thing to remember is that we have two types of retiree plans with different coverage and premiums. We have the Non- Medicare retiree plan and the Medicare Supplemental retiree plan. For the Medicare retirees the premium is much lower for the supplemental plan but only covers what Medicare covers. They basically pay the twenty percent above the eighty percent that Medicare pays. The first ten pages in the "Retiree Plans Book" address the coverage for Non-Medicare members. On page 8 for example, under "Vision" it states: 1) Routine eye exam, one per calendar year $25.00 co-pay; 2) Lenses and frames one per calendar year up to $120.00. On page 10 the Medicare Supplemental Plan is explained. There is no vision coverage for exam or lenses and frames. Again, the explanation is because Medicare provides no coverage for the above. The supplemental plan has no coverage.