RFFOW President's Message for February 2010
http://www.leoff1.net/articles/90/1/RFFOW-Presidents-Message-for-February-2010/Page1.html
By Dick Warbrouck
Published on 02/10/2010
It apparently took the death of six law enforcement officers and the wounding of the seventh officer to bring our elected officials to the full realization that the LEOFF 2 benefits are inadequate. The death of one, two or even the four Seattle firefighters who were killed in the Pang warehouse fire was not enough. Thanks to the compassion and concern of Governor Gregoire and the members of the House Ways & Means Committee, some long overdue changes in the line of duty death benefits are now being considered. Immediately after the shooting of the four Lakewood police officers the Governor established a panel to discuss the incident and the immediate and long term needs of the families. The panel quickly came to the conclusion that the death benefits were inadequate and that some corrections should be made. The LEOFF 2 Pension Board had been discussing this subject during the interim and was familiar with the problem. At the Board's January meeting a request was made by Representative Geoff Simpson, a LEOFF 2 board member, that the board request legislation to be introduced to enhance the death benefits for the LEOFF 2 retirement system. Representative Simpson explained that he would be a sponsor and would have the bill introduced. As a result the board passed a motion to request legislation to amend the LEOFF 2 system and other state laws to improve the death benefits for all law enforcement officers and firefighters and the State Patrol.
I want to make it clear that the board went perhaps beyond its authority to request benefit improvements for LEOFF 1, LEOFF 2 and the State Patrol. A bill was drafted and introduced with Representative Tami Green as the prime sponsor and with Representatives Hope, Ericks, Maxwell, Sullivan, Upthegrass, Carlyle, Conway, Simpson, VanDeWege, Kenney, Morrell, Hurst, Campbell, and Kelley signing as sponsors. The bill was introduced as HB 2519 and was assigned to the House Ways & Means Committee chaired by Representative Kelli Linville. HB 2519 will make the following changes in duty death benefits for LEOFF 1, LEOFF 2 law enforcement officers, firefighters and the State Patrol:
LEOFF 1 will benefit from the increase in the lump-sum duty related death benefit and from the addition of the surviving spouse as being eligible for free tuition in a state college or university.
HB 2519 was put on a fast track. A hearing was held on January 19th by the House Ways & Means Committee. Several people signed up to testify including the prime sponsor, Representative Tami Green, Steve Nelson, the Executive Secretary of the LEOFF 2 Pension Board, the Chief of the Lakewood Police Department, police officer representatives, a Lakewood police Department, police officer representatives, a Lakewood police officer and a surviving spouse, representing the twenty-four surviving spouses of LEOFF 2 members, police and fire who have died in the line of duty. The RFFOW was in attendance and signed in, endorsing the bill but not to testify as I could see that the hearing was well organized and there would be adequate testimony. As a result the Chair waived the rules and immediately went into executive session for a vote instead of waiting for another meeting. The bill was passed out of the Committee unanimously.
I believe we were the only retired group present to endorse a bill to benefit all LEOFF 1, LEOFF 2 and State Patrol members. The Washington State Council of Firefighters, State Council of Police, the Fraternal Order of Police, the State Patrol Association, the LEOFF 2 Pension Board and Representative Geoff Simpson are to be congratulated for their efforts. The bill still must be passed by the full House, the Senate Committee, the Senate and signed by the Governor before the sixty-day session is adjourned. If you are so inclined, please write, e-mail or call the Legislative Hot Line 1-800-562-6000 in support of HB 2519. You can get the phone numbers, e-mail or mailing address of your legislators, House and Senate by calling the Legislative Information Office at (360) 786-7573 and give your legislative district or mailing address.
I have received the assurance from Senator Prentice, Chair of the Senate Ways & Means Committee, that SB 6078 will be scheduled for a hearing. SB 6078 will amend the LEOFF 1 retirement system to allow a surviving spouse of an active LEOFF 1 member who is killed in the line of duty with more that twenty-five years of service the choice of selecting a fifty percent disability pension or a service pension of two percent for each year of service. Example: two percent x 31 years of service would equal sixty-two percent of final salary.
Our February meeting will be at the usual location, St. John's Lutheran Church 5515 Phinney Ave N, Seattle at 11:00 AM Saturday, February 13th.
We have signed an agreement with the Ballard Elks to have our Director's meetings and general membership meetings on the second Wednesday of each month, except for June, July and August and December. The Director's meeting will start at 9:30 AM with the membership meeting starting at the usual time, 11:00 AM. We will have a nice warm room, good parking, our own coffee and donuts, an elevator to the second floor and we will not have to set up or remove the tables and chairs. The rental fee is the same as we are now paying. The agreement is for all of 2010, with the possibility of an extension to 2011.
The only hang-up is that the Ballard Elks must get the approval of the Grand Lodge which will not be given before the first of March. As a result, the agreement is pending and if approved it may not be forwarded in time for our March meeting. Please pay attention to the meeting notice in the March Newsletter.
We have a tentative agreement with three facilities for our 2010 Christmas Luncheon. The Ballard Elks on the second Saturday of December, the new Edmonds Yacht Club on the second Wednesday or Thursday of December or the Maplewood Golf Club in Renton on the second Saturday of December. The Nile Temple and the Edmonds Yacht Club have a room rental fee in addition to the catering charge and will require a certain number to attend to cover the rental fee. If we fall short we will have to pay the balance. The Yacht Club will require us to rent linen table cloths from a laundry, requiring an addition cost of about $200.00. The Maplewood Golf Club is a nice facility. They have their own banquet staff and will furnish everything for a minimum charge, depending on the size of the room we reserve. If we don't have enough attending to cover the minimum charge we will be responsible for the difference. We do want to do everything we can to provide a luncheon of the quality you deserve.
After issuing the first refund checks for the Christmas Luncheon, several discrepancies were brought to our attention. It is hard to imagine how anything so simple could be so difficult. As of Monday, January 26th we will issue a corrected check to those who received an incorrect refund. At the January meeting I mentioned the names of those members who returned their refund checks as a donation. This was not meant to request, suggest, or to persuade you to return the refund check, only to acknowledge those who did.
I hope to hear from the Finance Director for the City of Hoquiam regarding the City of Hoquiam's new policy requiring LEOFF 1 members to pay out of pocket for medical services and then apply for a reimbursement. After two letters to the City of Hoquiam and a long phone conversation with Mr. Folkers, he asked for an additional three weeks to address my concerns. The three weeks have past and if I don't hear from him in the next few days I will call him and the City Attorney to see if they have decided to cancel the new policy or to schedule a meeting to discuss this issue.
It apparently took the death of six law enforcement officers and the wounding of the seventh officer to bring our elected officials to the full realization that the LEOFF 2 benefits are inadequate. The death of one, two or even the four Seattle firefighters who were killed in the Pang warehouse fire was not enough. Thanks to the compassion and concern of Governor Gregoire and the members of the House Ways & Means Committee, some long overdue changes in the line of duty death benefits are now being considered.
It apparently took the death of six law enforcement officers and the wounding of the seventh officer to bring our elected officials to the full realization that the LEOFF 2 benefits are inadequate. The death of one, two or even the four Seattle firefighters who were killed in the Pang warehouse fire was not enough. Thanks to the compassion and concern of Governor Gregoire and the members of the House Ways & Means Committee, some long overdue changes in the line of duty death benefits are now being considered. Immediately after the shooting of the four Lakewood police officers the Governor established a panel to discuss the incident and the immediate and long term needs of the families. The panel quickly came to the conclusion that the death benefits were inadequate and that some corrections should be made. The LEOFF 2 Pension Board had been discussing this subject during the interim and was familiar with the problem. At the Board's January meeting a request was made by Representative Geoff Simpson, a LEOFF 2 board member, that the board request legislation to be introduced to enhance the death benefits for the LEOFF 2 retirement system. Representative Simpson explained that he would be a sponsor and would have the bill introduced. As a result the board passed a motion to request legislation to amend the LEOFF 2 system and other state laws to improve the death benefits for all law enforcement officers and firefighters and the State Patrol. I want to make it clear that the board went perhaps beyond its authority to request benefit improvements for LEOFF 1, LEOFF 2 and the State Patrol. A bill was drafted and introduced with Representative Tami Green as the prime sponsor and with Representatives Hope, Ericks, Maxwell, Sullivan, Upthegrass, Carlyle, Conway, Simpson, VanDeWege, Kenney, Morrell, Hurst, Campbell, and Kelley signing as sponsors. The bill was introduced as HB 2519 and was assigned to the House Ways & Means Committee chaired by Representative Kelli Linville. HB 2519 will make the following changes in duty death benefits for LEOFF 1, LEOFF 2 law enforcement officers, firefighters and the State Patrol:
- Remove the 10 year service requirement in Law Enforcement Officers' and Fire Fighters' Retirement Plan
- 2 (LEOFF 2) and the Washington State Patrol Retirement System Plan 2 (WSPRS 2) for survivors of dutyrelated deaths to qualify for a survivor annuity.
- Removes the actuarial reduction for a joint and 100 percent survivor option applied to survivor annuities in LEOFF 2 and WSPRS 2 for survivors of duty-related death.
- Provides a minimum survivor annuity in LEOFF 2 and WSPRS 2 of 10 percent of final average salary for survivors of duty-related deaths.
- Increase the lump-sum, duty-related death benefit in all plans of LEOFF and WSPRS to $214,000 and annually increases the lump-sum by up to 3 percent per year.
- Exempts LEOFF and WSPRS duty-related death survivors from general provisions that halt workers' compensation pension benefits after remarriage.
- Requires (rather than permits as in current law) state higher education institutions to waive payment of all tuition, services, and activity fees for both the children and surviving spouses of any law enforcement officer, firefighter, or Washington State Patrol Officer that died or became totally disabled in the line of duty.
LEOFF 1 will benefit from the increase in the lump-sum duty related death benefit and from the addition of the surviving spouse as being eligible for free tuition in a state college or university.
HB 2519 was put on a fast track. A hearing was held on January 19th by the House Ways & Means Committee. Several people signed up to testify including the prime sponsor, Representative Tami Green, Steve Nelson, the Executive Secretary of the LEOFF 2 Pension Board, the Chief of the Lakewood Police Department, police officer representatives, a Lakewood police Department, police officer representatives, a Lakewood police officer and a surviving spouse, representing the twenty-four surviving spouses of LEOFF 2 members, police and fire who have died in the line of duty. The RFFOW was in attendance and signed in, endorsing the bill but not to testify as I could see that the hearing was well organized and there would be adequate testimony. As a result the Chair waived the rules and immediately went into executive session for a vote instead of waiting for another meeting. The bill was passed out of the Committee unanimously.
I believe we were the only retired group present to endorse a bill to benefit all LEOFF 1, LEOFF 2 and State Patrol members. The Washington State Council of Firefighters, State Council of Police, the Fraternal Order of Police, the State Patrol Association, the LEOFF 2 Pension Board and Representative Geoff Simpson are to be congratulated for their efforts. The bill still must be passed by the full House, the Senate Committee, the Senate and signed by the Governor before the sixty-day session is adjourned. If you are so inclined, please write, e-mail or call the Legislative Hot Line 1-800-562-6000 in support of HB 2519. You can get the phone numbers, e-mail or mailing address of your legislators, House and Senate by calling the Legislative Information Office at (360) 786-7573 and give your legislative district or mailing address.
I have received the assurance from Senator Prentice, Chair of the Senate Ways & Means Committee, that SB 6078 will be scheduled for a hearing. SB 6078 will amend the LEOFF 1 retirement system to allow a surviving spouse of an active LEOFF 1 member who is killed in the line of duty with more that twenty-five years of service the choice of selecting a fifty percent disability pension or a service pension of two percent for each year of service. Example: two percent x 31 years of service would equal sixty-two percent of final salary.
Our February meeting will be at the usual location, St. John's Lutheran Church 5515 Phinney Ave N, Seattle at 11:00 AM Saturday, February 13th.
We have signed an agreement with the Ballard Elks to have our Director's meetings and general membership meetings on the second Wednesday of each month, except for June, July and August and December. The Director's meeting will start at 9:30 AM with the membership meeting starting at the usual time, 11:00 AM. We will have a nice warm room, good parking, our own coffee and donuts, an elevator to the second floor and we will not have to set up or remove the tables and chairs. The rental fee is the same as we are now paying. The agreement is for all of 2010, with the possibility of an extension to 2011.
The only hang-up is that the Ballard Elks must get the approval of the Grand Lodge which will not be given before the first of March. As a result, the agreement is pending and if approved it may not be forwarded in time for our March meeting. Please pay attention to the meeting notice in the March Newsletter.
We have a tentative agreement with three facilities for our 2010 Christmas Luncheon. The Ballard Elks on the second Saturday of December, the new Edmonds Yacht Club on the second Wednesday or Thursday of December or the Maplewood Golf Club in Renton on the second Saturday of December. The Nile Temple and the Edmonds Yacht Club have a room rental fee in addition to the catering charge and will require a certain number to attend to cover the rental fee. If we fall short we will have to pay the balance. The Yacht Club will require us to rent linen table cloths from a laundry, requiring an addition cost of about $200.00. The Maplewood Golf Club is a nice facility. They have their own banquet staff and will furnish everything for a minimum charge, depending on the size of the room we reserve. If we don't have enough attending to cover the minimum charge we will be responsible for the difference. We do want to do everything we can to provide a luncheon of the quality you deserve.
After issuing the first refund checks for the Christmas Luncheon, several discrepancies were brought to our attention. It is hard to imagine how anything so simple could be so difficult. As of Monday, January 26th we will issue a corrected check to those who received an incorrect refund. At the January meeting I mentioned the names of those members who returned their refund checks as a donation. This was not meant to request, suggest, or to persuade you to return the refund check, only to acknowledge those who did.
I hope to hear from the Finance Director for the City of Hoquiam regarding the City of Hoquiam's new policy requiring LEOFF 1 members to pay out of pocket for medical services and then apply for a reimbursement. After two letters to the City of Hoquiam and a long phone conversation with Mr. Folkers, he asked for an additional three weeks to address my concerns. The three weeks have past and if I don't hear from him in the next few days I will call him and the City Attorney to see if they have decided to cancel the new policy or to schedule a meeting to discuss this issue.