Kudos to the Coalition!  Can you imagine that.  LEOFF1.Net saying something good about the Coaliton.  Well, they funded the Moses Lake lawsuit.  It was an important win for all of us.  I think they put about $15,000 into the effort.  Now with the award of attorney's fees they will probably recoup a portion of that money. 

As you are aware I am often critical of the Coalition's failure to provide its donors with financial information.  In fact they haven't even told you about the money they spent on this suit, but now you know.  They should be proud of this success and even those of us that are critical of some of their spending should acknowledge that this was a good use of our money.

The Legislature is in session.  Fortunately it is a short session with the primary focus on trying to produce a balance budget.  Thus far not much has happend in this session relative to the LEOFF 1 Pension Plan.  Currently there are only two bills, HB 2519 and SB 6078, that have any impact on LEOFF 1.  The Senate bill is a hold over from the last session. 

The LEOFF 2 Retirement Board propsed the House bill.  It deals with line of duty death payments and impacts active members.  However disability retired LEOFF 1 members would be entitled free tuition for their dependent children under this bill.  This bill, as well, would impact very few LEOFF 1 retirees.

We have posted articles on the site with full details.

Recently we have been informed that members of the RSPOA are continuing to recieve notices and donation requests from the LEOFF 1 Coalition.  These mailings have been made to RSPOA members even though the RSPOA withdrew the permisssion to use their mailing list when they withdrew from the Coalition.  It is unfortunate that that organization continues to violate the privacy rights of these individuals.  

We continue to assert that we do not think anyone should send any money to the Coalition.  They need to first demonstrate the need and explain what they have done with the money we have already sent.  Then they need to explain what they intend to do with the money they have and the new money they are seeking.  That means a transparent financial review.  See our earlier article on this issue.

It was great to see an article by Dave Peery detailing his view of the health of the LEOFF 1 pension.  He and some others made a trip to Olympia in December where they met with a Legislative staffer who produced a single page out of a 100 page report that explained it all.  Unfortunately Dave did not provide us with a copy of the page or the name of the report.

It does not matter, however, because the information is not new.  In fact, we published that information on LEOFF1.Net back in September.  See the article. 

What is important is that the Coalition is starting to make an effort to be more communicative.  Dave's article was a good report even with the sparcity of detail.  This is much better stuff than just linking to a bunch of articles on the the State's TVW website.  My kudos Dave for making a better effort.

When someone wants you to open your wallet and send them money, a popular device to motivate you to action is to recite alarming reports of doom and gloom.   You are then urged to send money so that that group and protect you.

Obviously, there are times when such tactics are appropriate.  An example familiar to all of us was SB 6166 back in 2001.  Unfortunately, it is a tactic that is used so frequently that it becomes like crying wolf.  Remember last fall when there was an initiative pending in California that would have made some significant negative changes in California pensions?  We were presented with that news as though it was going to happen right here in Washington State. Of  course the report left out information about why it would not apply in Washington State and how the Washington State pension laws differ and prohibit such an action.  The underlying reason for that was to alarm.

The initiative failed but was never a threat to LEOFF 1 anyway.

Today there are lots of news items to generated doom and gloom.  The state budget is in the hole by $2.6 billion.  The ability of the state to issue bonds is being squeezed because of a constitutional limit on borrowing.  And, many other items.  So, if you want to be scared, you can find plenty of negative articles.  We have posted some of that information here under the TVG category. 

However, I would urge each of you to carefully look at the facts.  For example there is a TVW presentation where Matt Smith, the State Actuary, discusses pension funding.  As you listen to him you will note that he is talking about PERS and TRS, not LEOFF 1.  Also, even given the sad state of those pensions, he emphasizes there is no crisis.

Matt Smith has been presenting this pension funding report since September.  The things he is saying today are not new.  As a part of the presentation he did a pension funding review of LEOFF 1.  We published that on September 8, 2009.  It is a five page article and is pretty comprehenisve.

In our recent postings, we have drifted away from talking strictly about LEOFF 1 issues.  The recent murders of five police officers simply because they were police officers cannot be ignored or put aside.  In like manner we are featuring some fine police work done by retired officers working with Jefferson County.

However, the Legislature will be back in session next month.  While we know of no pending pension issues planned for the session, we will watching things there carefully.  After all, they have a $2.6 billion budget deficit.  We expect them to be looking everywhere for money.

We received this email from Jonathan Jensen about a part-time job oportunity.

I am advising you of a six month job opening for a retired law enforcement officer at the Everett Municipal Court. I am taking a leave next year from July 1, 2010, to Jan 1, 2011. We are looking for a retired officer who is interested in this position. 22.5 hours a week, afternoons, approx 16 an hour.

Contact Jonathan Jensen, jjensen@ci.everett.wa.us,  for details.

In the recent months, not a lot has been happening relative to our pension.  That, of course, is because the legislature is not in session.  The next session begins in January.  It is only a 60 day session and the leglislators have a lot to do.  The state is facing another financial crisis -- it seems like they are always facing a financial crisis.  That could pose a threat, but that is unlikely in that no pension system is in a position to entice a raid by the legislature.

I think we might see some new taxes if they think they can get away with it, otherwise the will no doubt just make more cuts and defer more spending.  Why not?  We can get along without roads and those teachers can go another couple of years without a raise. 

Anyway, for the LEOFF 1 perspective we, at this time, see no threats on the horizon.  We will, however, watch closely and keep you informed of any developments.

I know that may are concerned that the Health Care Reform bill seems to be progressing through the Congress.  We do not know what, if any, impact this bill might have on LEOFF 1 medical benefits.  I have discussed this issue with Mike Germann, the Secretary of the Seattle Police Pension Board. 

He does not anticipate it will have any impact.  He says that our medical payment practices are set in state law and established court proceedings.  Those guidelines will not change.

So, for the time being, it is probably not necessary to be concerned.  Still in this volitle political climate it is wise to continue to track these changes and assess their potential impact.  We will continue to keep a close eye on these issues.

I was recently chided by Bob Monize about our article on Swisher v Moses Lake.  We published this information a month ago.  It was accurate then and is still accurate.  The comment made was that the issue was "not quite resolved, regardless of what has been written recently on another web site."  What still remains to be heard is the issue of attorney's fees.  Joe Fischnaller is asking for an award of actual fees.  So far, statutory fees have been awarded but those are far less than actual fees.  There will be a hearing on that issue.

Still, Moses Lake was ordered to pay the bills and that is the key issue here.  The Snohomish case findings were followed.

So why the scolding?  I guess it is because they haven't bothered to even discuss the progress on the case and are embarrassed by their omission.  I don't know why, they never report on anything substantive anyway. 

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Shortly we will be positing a direct subscription link and asking everyone to resubscribe in order to insure we have he latest contact information.

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