The first LEOFF 1/LEOFF 2 merger study meeting held on August 30, 2011 at the Department of Retirement Systems in Olympia was somewhat uneventful. I was not able to attend due to a rescheduled surgery that required an overnight stay in the hospital. RFFOW Director Randy Plain and Jerry Taylor, President of Seattle Police Retired Officers Association were in attendance. Some in attendance represented a group or an organization while some may have only represented themselves. Others, in attendance may not attend the next meeting while others who didn't attend the first meeting could very well attend any future meetings if scheduled. I don't know what was actually discussed, as of this date September 25, 2011 no minutes have been forwarded.

I want to thank Vice-President Jim Fossos for chairing the March meeting when I was away on a short vacation. Jim covered all the information that I had given him in an admirable manner as he maintained the order and kept the meeting moving. I also want to thank Pat and Karyn Bartlow for preparing the coffee and purchasing the donuts and Monica for her needed assistance.

Today is December20, five days before Christmas. As I put pen to paper for the January 2011 Newsletter that you will receive after the first of the year. This of course reminds me that another year has gone by. We hope you had a Merry Christmas and will enjoy a happy, healthy and safe 2011.

Some of you who are not a member of the Retried Firefighters of Washington(RFFOW) may wonder why our October Newsletter was mailed to you. We want to take this opportunity to introduce ourselves and to inform you about our organization, what we do and how the RFFOW is administered. In fact, our legislative program and lobbying efforts make this special mailing possible. The passage of HB 1219 permitted us the opportunity to send a mailing to all LEOFF I and II retirees and surviving spouses who are receiving a LEOFF retirement benefit from the State Department of Retirement Systems (DRS).

The campaign season is in full swing. We have received at least seventy-five requests from candidates running for a position and from legislators who are seeking re-election. We even receive requests from legislators who are not up for re-election but would like to acquire a fund to pass to others whom they believe are worthy of their help. And then of course we hear from the House and Senate and the two caucuses as they solicit funds to use as they see fit. This is all in addition to the phone calls and e-mails from candidates and legislators themselves seeking donations. Remind me next year to give Monica's phone number. If you do have or know a legislator whom you feel is doing a good job, offer to help in the campaign as a retired firefighter, maybe addressing envelopes, helping with mailings or as you know, a small check is always acceptable.

The Special Session of the Legislature was called to order on Monday November 28, 2011. The Governor was forced to call the Special Session to cut an additional 2 billion dollars in the State's 32.2 billion dollar budget. Governor Gregoire proposed asking the voters to approve a half cent increase in the sales tax which would generate 500 million dollars in the next fiscal year. Any increases in taxes would have to be approved by two-thirds vote of the legislators or approved by the voters.

We enjoyed a meeting with Representative Barbara Bailey the new Chair of the Select Committee on Pension Policy. She was kind enough to sit down over coffee to discuss various issues including pension funding, HB 2097 the pension merger bill, the need for a merger, and the questions to be answered in the event of another attempt to merge the LEOFF 1 and LEOFF 2 retirement systems.

I first want to acknowledge and thank those of you who have made a donation to our Political Action Fund (PAC Fund) sometimes referred to as the Legislative Fund. Your generosity and willingness to help is very much appreciated. I want to assure you that we have recorded your contributions. In the event of an emergency or the need to file a major lawsuit in excess of our current budget we will ask our members for a donation, however we will be mindful of the donations we have received in 2010-11.  More ...

When House Bill 2097 was Introduced in the wee hours of the legislative session, a total surprise to us and other LEOFF1 organizations, you were asked to contact your legislators which many of you did and I want to thank you. At that time, many of the responses from legislators that we received and those that were forwarded to us from our members stated that they were misled by the proponents, Kelly Fox and Bud Sizemore, the President and Legislative Liaison of the Washington State Council of Firefighters.

I sat in the galleries of the House and Senate at 9:45 pm Wednesday, May 25, 2011 when the legislative session came to a close. I was relieved and thankful that HB2097 was not passed by the legislature. I was proud of our organization and of all of you who did so much to stop a bill that could do so much but said so little. I want to thank all of you who wrote letters, made phone calls and sent e-mails to your legislators as you are responsible for defeating this bill. Your voice was heard loud and clear in educating the legislators that this was not a slam dunk and that there are 8,000 plus LEOFF 1 members, families and friends who are opposed to this bill.

I want to thank those of you who contacted your legislators or the members of the House Ways & Means Committee to voice your objection to HB 2097. HB 2097 is the bill that was introduced without notice in the eleventh hour of the legislative session that would merge the LEOFF 1 and LEOFF 2 Pension Systems and co-mingle the two pension funds.

The Legislature has reached its second-to- last, self-imposed deadline for the session. As we have discussed in previous legislative updates, no bill is truly dead until they bang the gavel to end the session, Sine Die. Along with working on our priority legislation, your legislative team also testified on the following bills this week:

The Washington State Council of Firefighters is involved in an intensive and well-coordinated lobbying effort to pass some very important legislation. As retired firefighters we should do whatever we can to assist in this effort. It is sometimes difficult for us to assist as an organization. A sincere effort by other groups to help can be seen as interference if a problem occurs down the road. Of course we are always willing to help if asked but we are reluctant to do anything without the knowledge and authority of the State Council. Quite often when attempting to pass legislation, votes are counted, committee members and chair persons have pledged to assist and timing is an important factor. Committee hearings are necessary but sometimes not too important as the votes are counted and additional testimony may give the opponents a chance to talk in opposition or develop additional concern.

I want to remind everyone that a LEOFF I member who vested with twenty years of service is eligible for the full medical coverage when they reach fifty years of age. This question was asked to assist a member who had been passed over for this important benefit.

I recently attended a meeting with Marcie Frost the Deputy Director of the Department of Retirement Systems in Olympia. Also present was Brian Berghoff the Deferred Compensation Administer at DRS. The meeting was requested by the RFFOW to discuss the possibility of establishing an option to allow retirees of one of the State's retirement plans to roll over or transfer existing IRA's , Roth IRA's or 401 K Plans for investment by the State Investment Board.

We are pleased with the response from the special mailing of the October Newsletter to all LEOFF I and LEOFF II fire service retirees and surviving spouses. As of this writing we have enrolled over 100 new members. There have been several phone calls from new members asking questions that we have answered or addressed in previous newsletters.

I reported in the August Newsletter that the September Newsletter would be a special edition and would be mailed to all LEOFF I and LEOFF II retired firefighters who are receiving a check from the Washington State Department of Retirement Systems. We still intend to do this but due to vacation schedules and other logistical problems (i.e. mailing through the Department of Retirement Systems), has forced us to postpone the mailing of this special edition until October. We have asked state agency directors to submit articles and were advised that their schedules were too cramped to meet the deadline for the September Newsletter.

Medical insurance coverage is now available through the Seattle Fire Fighters Health- Care Trust, sponsored by Seattle Fire Fighters Local 27. Recently Local 27 decided, after many years, to close the in-house office, hire an outside broker and a third party administrator, Benefit Solutions, (BSI). This caused a great concern to our members due to the short notice and the lack of an explanation, the closing of the in-house office and the dismissal of the Family Medical staff.

MEETING NOTICE: Next RFFOW meeting will be Wednesday, April 14, at the Ballard Elks, 6411 Seaview Avenue NW, Seattle, at 11:00 am.

Fire Fighter meet regularly all across the state.  If you have not been attending one of these meeting, now is the time start.  Stay informed and stay connected.

Click on the Full Story link to see the schedules and locations.

I want to acknowledge that Caroline Brakken has resigned as Secretary- Treasurer of the RFFOW effective February 2010. Susan Lang, former Executive Secretary of the Seattle Fire Fighter Family Medical insurance program, is now serving as interim Secretary-Treasurer. Monica Blum is serving as our interim Newsletter editor and is solely responsible for this March 2010 Newsletter. We were very fortunate to have these two well qualified women step in to fill the vacancy created by Caroline’s resignation.