Thursday, March 11, was the last day of the regular legislative session. The legislature has been called back to pass a budget and revenue package and the special session will begin Monday, March 15th. We will continue to track the budget process for funding measures important to law enforcement. There is still a possibility that priority legislation that did not pass during the regular session may be funded – notably SB 6550 and SB 6316.

I'm happy to report that HB2226 went to the Governor today and will be signed asap. This was the remedy bill to address the problem for those agencies that denied concealed weapon permits under Federal HR218 because they couldn't do background checks because of some FBI rule that disallowed access for that purpose. We owe a big thank you to Rep. Mark Ericks who found sponsors for this bill to fix the problem and to WACOPS lobbyist Lee Reaves who worked it through the legislative system for us. Thanks to both for their help.

Sincerely,
Ken Crowder
WACOPS Retired Pos. #8

Webmaster's Note: HB 2226 deals with the right of retired law enforcement officers to carry a concealed weapon in any State.  Many retired officers seeking such authority have been blocked by some bureaucratic rules.  This bill corrects that problem.  For more information about this bill, click here.

Ken Crowder reports on the resolution of the Moses Lake lawsuit and reviews other LEOFF 1 issues for members of the WACOPS retired members. 

 WACOPS was contacted by the Department of Retirement Systems with an alert that they would be releasing personal information on all members enrolled in a state retirement system including LEOFF 1, LEOFF 2, WSP, PERS, SERS, and TERS.

The LEOFF1 Medical Study Committee has been meeting monthly throughout the summer to get the fact book put together. This week we met to review the draft copy and to provide Sandy Matheson,Director DRS,any changes that needed to be made. She will be finalizing the report in the coming weeks and we will have a conference call to approve it. A copy of the report will be sent to each member of the Select Committee On Pension Policy as well as being posted on the DRS website.

Joe Fischnaller has three actions currently going. He has filed a lawsuit against the City of Moses Lake and the Port of Moses Lake for refusing to pay for benefits provided to LEOFF1 members by the Grant Co. Disability Board.

Ken Crowder details information about the WACOPS Retired group including information about securing a free membership.