I talked to Joe Fischnaller today about the LEOFF 1 lawsuit with Moses Lake. The court issued its ruling a couple weeks ago in favor of LEOFF 1 (not surprised). There were two hearings with the trial judge. Apparently he had only criminal experience and had a hard time grasping the LEOFF 1 concept. The lawsuit won by our board (Snohomish. Co.) came into play as well which favored the LEOFF 1's in Moses Lake. The judge ordered Moses Lake to pay all the bills approved by the Board, costs and statutory layer fees (which in Snohomish Co. only amounted to $20). The court further ordered an injunction against Moses Lake which goes into effect at the end of the 30 appeal period ordering them to pay all future necessary medical expenses approved by the Board. Joe does not believe there will be an appeal. There will be a future hearing asking the court to pay all attorney's fees plus interest. As a point of interest Joe advises all Board when approving medical bills to make it a part of the record that the bills are approved and found by the Board to be medically necessary. In Snohomish Co. we make that part of the motion to approve and it's recorded in the meeting minutes.

For those who didn't get the message the LEOFF 1 Medical Study Committee has terminated their meetings for the time being. At the last meeting it was determined that LEOFF 1 surplus is off the table, access to the state PEBB insurance is not attainable and any new taxes are off the table as far as the employers are concerned. That only leaves pooling and the employer reps weren't prepared to discuss that. After the 2010 session ends the employer will ask to restart the committee should any further recommendations be made by them.

Absolutely no one is talking about any use of the surplus, not that there is any worth discussing, or eliminating pension boards.

FYI I have been reappointed to the WACOPS Board for another 3 year term representing the retired officers.

WACOPS will be taking over administration of its website in 2010 so I hope to have a section for retired issues that can be updated on a daily basis. By taking it over ourselves will save paying an outside administrator for every change or update.

Should anyone have questions or need an issue worked on please feel free to call me at 425-244-1411 or email me by going to www.wacops.org and then click on who we are link.

An issue and being worked on at this time is a problem with HR218 Federal Concealed Weapon permits. The feds aren't allowing local agencies to do background checks for the federal permits. It is ok however to do the checks for state carry permits because you are charged a fee for that. The problem is the state permits are for 5 years and the federal permits are annual. To get a background check for the federal would require reissue of the state permit annually as well. I am currently working with the president of the troopers union as well as several police administrators and legislators to determine if we can fix the problem at the state level.

Sincerely,
Ken Crowder
WACOPS Bd. Pos.#8