Good morning all. Yesterday (Wednesday) I attended the LEOFF Plan 11 Board meeting. We had a large turnout of LEOFF 1 members so thanks for all who attended. I believe they got the message that we care and we're not going to go away.

Matt Smith, State Actuary, made a presentation of the merger study he conducted last year followed by Steve Nelson, LEOFF 11 Board Exec. Director, presenting an over view of the merger and why it is so great (in his view). In Nelson's presentation he stated that he had the bill reviewed by the best attorney in the nation on pension issues and that the attorney says the bill is 100% legal. This is in total contradiction to what Joe Fischnaller and Phil Talmage have stated in their written opinion. Did I mention that the opinion Nelson obtained has never been seen by anyone but him. This is more of the "trust us we're here for you LEOFF 1 members". I think the trust well has run dry.

Getting back to the meeting. Several LEOFF 1 members testified including Dick Warbrouck who did an outstanding job presenting our concerns. Way to go Dick. One of the biggest issues for employers and the State was that the new Board would have total control for setting contribution rates. As it turns out the Board believes this is a Bakenhaus protected right and the Legislature cannot undo it once made into law. I can't imagine any Legislator buying into this. For LEOFF 1 Mr. Nelson and Kelly Fox still contend that this bill does not hurt LEOFF 1 and protects our benefits and pension boards.

Second is the governance issue. Again more of the "trust us". They contend that the new Board will look out for LEOFF 1. If they really believed this then why not :trust us" and give LEOFF 1 equal representation on the Board? Unfortunately this would go counter to WACOPS & WSCFF original intent when I-790 was drafted and that was to make sure those two organizations had control of the Board. Currently there are 6 LEOF 11 members,3 employer reps. and 2 Legislators (one of which is LEOFF 11). In the end all the Board members had their say and a motion to support the bill was made. The vote was 5 against and three for so the Board will not support HB2350. This is a huge win for us. I think in the end those who opposed the bill really looked at what it does and doesn't do and made the correct decision. There are way too many problem with this bill.

We still need to have everyone call their Legislators and ask them not to support HB2350 as it is flawed and has numerous legal issues that have not been resolved. Also mention that the LEOFF 11 Board also agrees that the bill has problems and does not support it either. So make the calls. If you don't you may regret it later and the ship will have sailed.

Sincerely,
Ken Crowder