wa-law.org > bill > 2023-24 > SB 5625 > Original Bill
The office of the ombuds for retiree benefits for individuals covered by a system administered by the department of retirement systems is created. The ombuds shall be appointed by the governor and report directly to the director of the department. The office of the ombuds may be openly and competitively contracted by the governor in accordance with chapter 39.26 RCW.
The person appointed ombuds shall hold office for a term of six years and shall continue to hold office until reappointed or until his or her successor is appointed. The governor may remove the ombuds only for neglect of duty, misconduct, or inability to perform duties. Any vacancy shall be filled by similar appointment for the remainder of the unexpired term.
Any ombuds appointed under this chapter shall have training or experience, or both, in the following areas:
The retirement systems administered by the department;
Retiree health care administered by the employee and retiree benefits program within the health care authority;
The Washington state legal system; and
Dispute or problem resolution techniques, including investigation, mediation, and negotiation.
During the first two years after the office of the ombuds is created, the staffing level shall be no more than four persons, including the ombuds and any administrative staff. Thereafter, the staffing levels shall be determined based upon the office of the ombuds's workload and whether any additional locations are needed.
The office of the ombuds shall have the following powers and duties:
To act as an advocate for retirees and members of department-administered retirement systems;
To offer and provide information on the department administered retirement systems as appropriate to retirees and members;
To identify, investigate, and facilitate resolution of complaints from members and retirees of department-administered retirement systems and health care;
To maintain a statewide toll-free telephone number for the receipt of complaints and inquiries; and
To refer complaints to the relevant department when appropriate.
The office of the ombuds shall develop referral procedures for complaints by members and retirees of department-administered retirement systems and retiree health care. The relevant agency shall act as quickly as possible on any complaint referred to them by the office of the ombuds and shall forward the office of the ombuds a summary of the results of the investigation and action proposed or taken.
The relevant agency shall respond to any complaint against an employer referred to it by the office of the ombuds and shall forward the office of the ombuds a summary of the results of the investigation and action proposed or taken.
No ombuds is liable for good faith performance of responsibilities under this chapter.
No discriminatory, disciplinary, or retaliatory action may be taken against any employee of the department of retirement systems for any communication made, or information given or disclosed, to assist the ombuds in carrying out its duties and responsibilities, unless the same was done maliciously. This subsection is not intended to infringe on the rights of the department of retirement systems to supervise, discipline, or terminate an employee for other reasons.
All communications by the ombuds, if reasonably related to the requirements of his or her responsibilities under this chapter and done in good faith, are privileged and confidential, and this shall serve as a defense to any action in libel or slander.
Representatives of the office of the ombuds are exempt from being required to testify as to any privileged or confidential matters except as the court may deem necessary to enforce this chapter.
All records and files of the ombuds relating to any complaint or investigation made pursuant to carrying out its duties and the identities of complainants, witnesses, retirees, or members shall remain confidential unless disclosure is authorized by the complainant, retiree, or member or his or her guardian or legal representative. No disclosures may be made outside the office of the ombuds without the consent of any named witness or complainant unless the disclosure is made without the identity of any of these individuals being disclosed.
The department must clearly provide a link to the ombuds program on the front page of their website.
Funding for the office of the ombuds shall be paid through the department of retirement systems expense fund under RCW 41.50.110 and through the state health care authority administrative account under RCW 41.05.130.
The ombuds shall provide the governor, the select committee on pension policy, and the law enforcement officers' and firefighters' plan 2 retirement board with an annual report that includes the following:
A description of the issues addressed during the past year and a very brief description of case scenarios in a form that does not compromise confidentiality;
An accounting of the monitoring activities by the ombuds; and
An identification of any deficiencies in the department of retirement systems and recommendations for remedial action in policy or practice.
The first annual report is due on or before April 1, 2024. Subsequent reports are due on or before April 1st of each year.
The ombuds shall have an assistant attorney general separate from the department assigned to them for legal advice.
If an issue raised by a member or retiree is being investigated by the ombuds then the member or retiree's time to file a notice of appeal of the department's decision under chapter 34.05 RCW regarding the issue being investigated by the ombuds must toll until the ombuds has issued their decision and the department has responded to that decision.
As used in chapters 41.26 and 41.37 RCW, "in the line of duty" has the same meaning as "in the course of employment" as used in Title 51 RCW.
Any application for disability retirement by a member of the law enforcement officers' and firefighters' retirement system plan 2 that was denied by the department prior to the effective date of this section is subject to review by the department to determine if the disability was incurred in the line of duty.
An occupational assessment shall be conducted by the department or the department of labor and industries in any case of disability where the member's disability is denied on the basis that the member is capable of employment.
Except as provided by RCW 41.50.255 and subsection (6) of this section, all expenses of the administration of the department, the expenses of administration of the retirement systems, and the expenses of the administration of the office of the state actuary created in chapters 2.10, 2.12, 28B.10, 41.26, 41.32, 41.40, 41.34, 41.35, 41.37, 43.43, and 44.44 RCW shall be paid from the department of retirement systems expense fund.
In order to reimburse the department of retirement systems expense fund on an equitable basis the department shall ascertain and report to each employer, as defined in RCW 28B.10.400, 41.26.030, 41.32.010, 41.35.010, 41.37.010, or 41.40.010, the sum necessary to defray its proportional share of the entire expense of the administration of the retirement system that the employer participates in during the ensuing biennium or fiscal year whichever may be required. Such sum is to be computed in an amount directly proportional to the estimated entire expense of the administration as the ratio of monthly salaries of the employer's members bears to the total salaries of all members in the entire system. It shall then be the duty of all such employers to include in their budgets or otherwise provide the amounts so required.
The department shall compute and bill each employer, as defined in RCW 28B.10.400, 41.26.030, 41.32.010, 41.35.010, 41.37.010, or 41.40.010, at the end of each month for the amount due for that month to the department of retirement systems expense fund and the same shall be paid as are its other obligations. Such computation as to each employer shall be made on a percentage rate of salary established by the department. However, the department may at its discretion establish a system of billing based upon calendar year quarters in which event the said billing shall be at the end of each such quarter.
The director may adjust the expense fund contribution rate for each system at any time when necessary to reflect unanticipated costs or savings in administering the department.
An employer who fails to submit timely and accurate reports to the department may be assessed an additional fee related to the increased costs incurred by the department in processing the deficient reports. Fees paid under this subsection shall be deposited in the retirement system expense fund.
Every six months the department shall determine the amount of an employer's fee by reviewing the timeliness and accuracy of the reports submitted by the employer in the preceding six months. If those reports were not both timely and accurate the department may prospectively assess an additional fee under this subsection.
An additional fee assessed by the department under this subsection shall not exceed fifty percent of the standard fee.
The department shall adopt rules implementing this section.
Expenses other than those under RCW 41.34.060(4) shall be paid pursuant to subsection (1) of this section.
The department's administrative fee and any employer charge for the unfunded liability in a plan shall not be considered in the calculation of employer contributions charged to a member as a requirement for the purchase of service credit.
The deadline for a member or retiree to file a notice of appeal of a department's decision under chapter 34.05 RCW must be no less than 90 days. If the department requests that a member or retiree provide additional information to support their claim for a benefit, then the member or retiree's time to file a notice of appeal of the department's decision under chapter 34.05 RCW regarding the issue being investigated must be tolled no less than 90 days. A member or retiree can refile any claim that has been dismissed by the department prior to the effective date of this section for failing to file a timely notice of appeal after the department had requested the member or retiree provide additional information to support the member or retiree's claim.
Upon retirement for service as prescribed in RCW 41.40.630 or retirement for disability under RCW 41.40.670, a member shall elect to have the retirement allowance paid pursuant to one of the following options, calculated so as to be actuarially equivalent to each other.
Standard allowance. A member electing this option shall receive a retirement allowance payable throughout such member's life. However, if the retiree dies before the total of the retirement allowance paid to such retiree equals the amount of such retiree's accumulated contributions at the time of retirement, then the balance shall be paid to the member's estate, or such person or persons, trust, or organization as the retiree shall have nominated by written designation duly executed and filed with the department; or if there be no such designated person or persons still living at the time of the retiree's death, then to the surviving spouse; or if there be neither such designated person or persons still living at the time of death nor a surviving spouse, then to the retiree's legal representative.
The department shall adopt rules that allow a member to select a retirement option that pays the member a reduced retirement allowance and upon death, such portion of the member's reduced retirement allowance as the department by rule designates shall be continued throughout the life of and paid to a person nominated by the member by written designation duly executed and filed with the department at the time of retirement. The options adopted by the department shall include, but are not limited to, a joint and one hundred percent survivor option and a joint and fifty percent survivor option.
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A member, if married, must provide the written consent of his or her spouse to the option selected under this section, except as provided in (b) and (c) of this subsection. If a member is married and both the member and the member's spouse do not give written consent to an option under this section, the department shall pay a joint and fifty percent survivor benefit calculated to be actuarially equivalent to the benefit options available under subsection (1) of this section unless spousal consent is not required as provided in (b) and (c) of this subsection.
Written consent from a spouse or domestic partner is not required if a member who is married or a domestic partner selects a joint and survivor option under subsection (1)(b) of this section and names the member's spouse or domestic partner as the survivor beneficiary.
If a copy of a dissolution order designating a survivor beneficiary under RCW 41.50.790 has been filed with the department at least thirty days prior to a member's retirement:
The department shall honor the designation as if made by the member under subsection (1) of this section; and
The spousal consent provisions of (a) of this subsection do not apply.
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Any member who retired before January 1, 1996, and who elected to receive a reduced retirement allowance under subsection (1)(b) or (2) of this section is entitled to receive a retirement allowance adjusted in accordance with (b) of this subsection, if they meet the following conditions:
The retiree's designated beneficiary predeceases or has predeceased the retiree; and
The retiree provides to the department proper proof of the designated beneficiary's death.
The retirement allowance payable to the retiree, as of July 1, 1998, or the date of the designated beneficiary's death, whichever comes last, shall be increased by the percentage derived in (c) of this subsection.
The percentage increase shall be derived by the following:
One hundred percent multiplied by the result of (c)(ii) of this subsection converted to a percent;
Subtract one from the reciprocal of the appropriate joint and survivor option factor;
The joint and survivor option factor shall be from the table in effect as of July 1, 1998.
The adjustment under (b) of this subsection shall accrue from the beginning of the month following the date of the designated beneficiary's death or from July 1, 1998, whichever comes last.
No later than July 1, 2001, the department shall adopt rules that allow a member additional actuarially equivalent survivor benefit options, and shall include, but are not limited to:
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A retired member who retired without designating a survivor beneficiary shall have the opportunity to designate their spouse from a postretirement marriage as a survivor during a one-year period beginning one year after the date of the postretirement marriage provided the retirement allowance payable to the retiree is not subject to periodic payments pursuant to a property division obligation as provided for in RCW 41.50.670.
A member who entered into a postretirement marriage prior to the effective date of the rules adopted pursuant to this subsection and satisfies the conditions of (a)(i) of this subsection shall have one year to designate their spouse as a survivor beneficiary following the adoption of the rules.
A retired member who elected to receive a reduced retirement allowance under this section and designated a nonspouse as survivor beneficiary shall have the opportunity to remove the survivor designation and have their future benefit adjusted.
The department may make an additional charge, if necessary, to ensure that the benefits provided under this subsection remain actuarially equivalent.
No later than July 1, 2003, the department shall adopt rules to permit:
The member shall have available the benefit options of subsection (1) of this section upon retirement, and if remarried at the time of retirement remains subject to the spousal consent requirements of subsection (2) of this section. Any reductions of the member's benefit subsequent to the division into two separate benefits shall be made solely to the separate benefit of the member.
The nonmember ex spouse shall be eligible to commence receiving their separate benefit upon reaching the age provided in RCW 41.40.630(1) and after filing a written application with the department.
b. A court-approved property settlement incident to a court decree of dissolution made after retirement may only divide the benefit into two separate benefits payable over the life of each spouse if the nonmember ex spouse was selected as a survivor beneficiary at retirement.
The retired member may later choose the survivor benefit options available in subsection (4) of this section. Any actuarial reductions subsequent to the division into two separate benefits shall be made solely to the separate benefit of the member.
Both the retired member and the nonmember divorced spouse shall be eligible to commence receiving their separate benefits upon filing a copy of the dissolution order with the department in accordance with RCW 41.50.670.
c. The department may make an additional charge or adjustment if necessary to ensure that the separate benefits provided under this subsection are actuarially equivalent to the benefits payable prior to the decree of dissolution.
As used in this chapter, unless a different meaning is plainly required by the context:
"Accumulated contributions" means the employee's contributions made by a member, including any amount paid under RCW 41.50.165(2), plus accrued interest credited thereon.
"Actuarial reserve" means a method of financing a pension or retirement plan wherein reserves are accumulated as the liabilities for benefit payments are incurred in order that sufficient funds will be available on the date of retirement of each member to pay the member's future benefits during the period of retirement.
"Actuarial valuation" means a mathematical determination of the financial condition of a retirement plan. It includes the computation of the present monetary value of benefits payable to present members, and the present monetary value of future employer and employee contributions, giving effect to mortality among active and retired members and also to the rates of disability, retirement, withdrawal from service, salary and interest earned on investments.
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"Basic salary" for plan 1 members, means the basic monthly rate of salary or wages, including longevity pay but not including overtime earnings or special salary or wages, upon which pension or retirement benefits will be computed and upon which employer contributions and salary deductions will be based.
"Basic salary" for plan 2 members, means salaries or wages earned by a member during a payroll period for personal services, including overtime and holiday payments, and shall include wages and salaries deferred under provisions established pursuant to sections 403(b), 414(h), and 457 of the United States Internal Revenue Code, and shall include sick leave or vacation leave used by the member, but shall exclude lump sum payments for deferred annual sick leave, unused accumulated vacation, unused accumulated annual leave, or any form of severance pay. In any year in which a member serves in the legislature the member shall have the option of having such member's basic salary be the greater of:
The basic salary the member would have received had such member not served in the legislature; or
Such member's actual basic salary received for nonlegislative public employment and legislative service combined. Any additional contributions to the retirement system required because basic salary under (b)(i) of this subsection is greater than basic salary under (b)(ii) of this subsection shall be paid by the member for both member and employer contributions.
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"Beneficiary" for plan 1 members, means any person in receipt of a retirement allowance, disability allowance, death benefit, or any other benefit described herein.
"Beneficiary" for plan 2 members, means any person in receipt of a retirement allowance or other benefit provided by this chapter resulting from service rendered to an employer by another person.
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"Child" or "children" means an unmarried person who is under the age of eighteen or mentally or physically disabled as determined by the department, except a person who is disabled and in the full time care of a state institution, who is:
A natural born child;
A stepchild where that relationship was in existence prior to the date benefits are payable under this chapter;
A posthumous child;
A child legally adopted or made a legal ward of a member prior to the date benefits are payable under this chapter; or
An illegitimate child legitimized prior to the date any benefits are payable under this chapter.
A person shall also be deemed to be a child up to and including the age of twenty years and eleven months while attending any high school, college, or vocational or other educational institution accredited, licensed, or approved by the state, in which it is located, including the summer vacation months and all other normal and regular vacation periods at the particular educational institution after which the child returns to school.
"Department" means the department of retirement systems created in chapter 41.50 RCW.
"Director" means the director of the department.
"Disability board" for plan 1 members means either the county disability board or the city disability board established in RCW 41.26.110.
"Disability leave" means the period of six months or any portion thereof during which a member is on leave at an allowance equal to the member's full salary prior to the commencement of disability retirement. The definition contained in this subsection shall apply only to plan 1 members.
"Disability retirement" for plan 1 members, means the period following termination of a member's disability leave, during which the member is in receipt of a disability retirement allowance.
"Domestic partners" means two adults who have registered as domestic partners under RCW 26.60.020.
"Employee" means any law enforcement officer or firefighter as defined in subsections (17) and (19) of this section.
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"Employer" for plan 1 members, means the legislative authority of any city, town, county, district, or regional fire protection service authority or the elected officials of any municipal corporation that employs any law enforcement officer and/or firefighter, any authorized association of such municipalities, and, except for the purposes of RCW 41.26.150, any labor guild, association, or organization, which represents the firefighters or law enforcement officers of at least seven cities of over 20,000 population and the membership of each local lodge or division of which is composed of at least sixty percent law enforcement officers or firefighters as defined in this chapter.
"Employer" for plan 2 members, means the following entities to the extent that the entity employs any law enforcement officer and/or firefighter:
The legislative authority of any city, town, county, district, public corporation, or regional fire protection service authority established under RCW 35.21.730 to provide emergency medical services as defined in RCW 18.73.030;
The elected officials of any municipal corporation;
The governing body of any other general authority law enforcement agency;
A four-year institution of higher education having a fully operational fire department as of January 1, 1996; or
The department of social and health services or the department of corrections when employing firefighters serving at a prison or civil commitment center on an island.
Except as otherwise specifically provided in this chapter, "employer" does not include a government contractor. For purposes of this subsection, a "government contractor" is any entity, including a partnership, limited liability company, for-profit or nonprofit corporation, or person, that provides services pursuant to a contract with an "employer." The determination whether an employer-employee relationship has been established is not based on the relationship between a government contractor and an "employer," but is based solely on the relationship between a government contractor's employee and an "employer" under this chapter.
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"Final average salary" for plan 1 members, means (i) for a member holding the same position or rank for a minimum of twelve months preceding the date of retirement, the basic salary attached to such same position or rank at time of retirement; (ii) for any other member, including a civil service member who has not served a minimum of twelve months in the same position or rank preceding the date of retirement, the average of the greatest basic salaries payable to such member during any consecutive twenty-four month period within such member's last ten years of service for which service credit is allowed, computed by dividing the total basic salaries payable to such member during the selected twenty-four month period by twenty-four; (iii) in the case of disability of any member, the basic salary payable to such member at the time of disability retirement; (iv) in the case of a member who hereafter vests pursuant to RCW 41.26.090, the basic salary payable to such member at the time of vesting.
"Final average salary" for plan 2 members, means the monthly average of the member's basic salary for the highest consecutive sixty service credit months of service prior to such member's retirement, termination, or death. Periods constituting authorized unpaid leaves of absence may not be used in the calculation of final average salary.
In calculating final average salary under (a) or (b) of this subsection, the department of retirement systems shall include:
Any compensation forgone by a member employed by a state agency or institution during the 2009-2011 fiscal biennium as a result of reduced work hours, mandatory or voluntary leave without pay, temporary reduction in pay implemented prior to December 11, 2010, or temporary layoffs if the reduced compensation is an integral part of the employer's expenditure reduction efforts, as certified by the employer;
Any compensation forgone by a member employed by the state or a local government employer during the 2011-2013 fiscal biennium as a result of reduced work hours, mandatory leave without pay, temporary layoffs, or reductions to current pay if the reduced compensation is an integral part of the employer's expenditure reduction efforts, as certified by the employer. Reductions to current pay shall not include elimination of previously agreed upon future salary increases; and
Any compensation forgone by a member employed by the state or a local government employer during the 2019-2021 and 2021-2023 fiscal biennia as a result of reduced work hours, mandatory leave without pay, temporary layoffs, furloughs, reductions to current pay, or other similar measures resulting from the COVID-19 budgetary crisis, if the reduced compensation is an integral part of the employer's expenditure reduction efforts, as certified by the employer. Reductions to current pay shall not include elimination of previously agreed upon future salary increases.
"Fire department" includes a fire station operated by the department of social and health services or the department of corrections when employing firefighters serving a prison or civil commitment center on an island.
"Firefighter" means:
Any person who is serving on a full time, fully compensated basis as a member of a fire department of an employer and who is serving in a position which requires passing a civil service examination for firefighter, and who is actively employed as such;
Anyone who is actively employed as a full time firefighter where the fire department does not have a civil service examination;
Supervisory firefighter personnel;
Any full time executive secretary of an association of fire protection districts authorized under RCW 52.12.031. The provisions of this subsection (17)(d) shall not apply to plan 2 members;
The executive secretary of a labor guild, association or organization (which is an employer under subsection (14) of this section), if such individual has five years previous membership in a retirement system established in chapter 41.16 or 41.18 RCW. The provisions of this subsection (17)(e) shall not apply to plan 2 members;
Any person who is serving on a full time, fully compensated basis for an employer, as a fire dispatcher, in a department in which, on March 1, 1970, a dispatcher was required to have passed a civil service examination for firefighter;
Any person who on March 1, 1970, was employed on a full time, fully compensated basis by an employer, and who on May 21, 1971, was making retirement contributions under the provisions of chapter 41.16 or 41.18 RCW; and
Any person who is employed on a full-time, fully compensated basis by an employer as an emergency medical technician that meets the requirements of RCW 18.71.200 or 18.73.030(13), and whose duties include providing emergency medical services as defined in RCW 18.73.030.
"General authority law enforcement agency" means any agency, department, or division of a municipal corporation, political subdivision, or other unit of local government of this state, and any agency, department, or division of state government, having as its primary function the detection and apprehension of persons committing infractions or violating the traffic or criminal laws in general, but not including the Washington state patrol. Such an agency, department, or division is distinguished from a limited authority law enforcement agency having as one of its functions the apprehension or detection of persons committing infractions or violating the traffic or criminal laws relating to limited subject areas, including but not limited to, the state departments of natural resources and social and health services, the state gambling commission, the state lottery commission, the state parks and recreation commission, the state utilities and transportation commission, the state liquor and cannabis board, and the state department of corrections. A general authority law enforcement agency under this chapter does not include a government contractor.
"Law enforcement officer" beginning January 1, 1994, means any person who is commissioned and employed by an employer on a full time, fully compensated basis to enforce the criminal laws of the state of Washington generally, with the following qualifications:
No person who is serving in a position that is basically clerical or secretarial in nature, and who is not commissioned shall be considered a law enforcement officer;
Only those deputy sheriffs, including those serving under a different title pursuant to county charter, who have successfully completed a civil service examination for deputy sheriff or the equivalent position, where a different title is used, and those persons serving in unclassified positions authorized by RCW 41.14.070 except a private secretary will be considered law enforcement officers;
Only such full time commissioned law enforcement personnel as have been appointed to offices, positions, or ranks in the police department which have been specifically created or otherwise expressly provided for and designated by city charter provision or by ordinance enacted by the legislative body of the city shall be considered city police officers;
The term "law enforcement officer" also includes the executive secretary of a labor guild, association or organization (which is an employer under subsection (14) of this section) if that individual has five years previous membership in the retirement system established in chapter 41.20 RCW. The provisions of this subsection (19)(d) shall not apply to plan 2 members; and
The term "law enforcement officer" also includes a person employed on or after January 1, 1993, as a public safety officer or director of public safety, so long as the job duties substantially involve only either police or fire duties, or both, and no other duties in a city or town with a population of less than ten thousand. The provisions of this subsection (19)(e) shall not apply to any public safety officer or director of public safety who is receiving a retirement allowance under this chapter as of May 12, 1993.
"Medical services" for plan 1 members, shall include the following as minimum services to be provided. Reasonable charges for these services shall be paid in accordance with RCW 41.26.150.
Hospital expenses: These are the charges made by a hospital, in its own behalf, for
Board and room not to exceed semiprivate room rate unless private room is required by the attending physician due to the condition of the patient.
Necessary hospital services, other than board and room, furnished by the hospital.
Other medical expenses: The following charges are considered "other medical expenses," provided that they have not been considered as "hospital expenses".
(A) A physician or surgeon licensed under the provisions of chapter 18.71 RCW;
(B) An osteopathic physician and surgeon licensed under the provisions of chapter 18.57 RCW;
(C) A chiropractor licensed under the provisions of chapter 18.25 RCW.
ii. The charges of a registered graduate nurse other than a nurse who ordinarily resides in the member's home, or is a member of the family of either the member or the member's spouse.
iii. The charges for the following medical services and supplies:
(A) Drugs and medicines upon a physician's prescription;
(B) Diagnostic X-ray and laboratory examinations;
(C) X-ray, radium, and radioactive isotopes therapy;
(D) Anesthesia and oxygen;
(E) Rental of iron lung and other durable medical and surgical equipment;
(F) Artificial limbs and eyes, and casts, splints, and trusses;
(G) Professional ambulance service when used to transport the member to or from a hospital when injured by an accident or stricken by a disease;
(H) Dental charges incurred by a member who sustains an accidental injury to his or her teeth and who commences treatment by a legally licensed dentist within ninety days after the accident;
(I) Nursing home confinement or hospital extended care facility;
(J) Physical therapy by a registered physical therapist;
(K) Blood transfusions, including the cost of blood and blood plasma not replaced by voluntary donors;
(L) An optometrist licensed under the provisions of chapter 18.53 RCW.
"Member" means any firefighter, law enforcement officer, or other person as would apply under subsection (17) or (19) of this section whose membership is transferred to the Washington law enforcement officers' and firefighters' retirement system on or after March 1, 1970, and every law enforcement officer and firefighter who is employed in that capacity on or after such date.
"Plan 1" means the law enforcement officers' and firefighters' retirement system, plan 1 providing the benefits and funding provisions covering persons who first became members of the system prior to October 1, 1977.
"Plan 2" means the law enforcement officers' and firefighters' retirement system, plan 2 providing the benefits and funding provisions covering persons who first became members of the system on and after October 1, 1977.
"Position" means the employment held at any particular time, which may or may not be the same as civil service rank.
"Regular interest" means such rate as the director may determine.
"Retiree" for persons who establish membership in the retirement system on or after October 1, 1977, means any member in receipt of a retirement allowance or other benefit provided by this chapter resulting from service rendered to an employer by such member.
"Retirement fund" means the "Washington law enforcement officers' and firefighters' retirement system fund" as provided for herein.
"Retirement system" means the "Washington law enforcement officers' and firefighters' retirement system" provided herein.
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"Service" for plan 1 members, means all periods of employment for an employer as a firefighter or law enforcement officer, for which compensation is paid, together with periods of suspension not exceeding thirty days in duration. For the purposes of this chapter service shall also include service in the armed forces of the United States as provided in RCW 41.26.190. Credit shall be allowed for all service credit months of service rendered by a member from and after the member's initial commencement of employment as a firefighter or law enforcement officer, during which the member worked for seventy or more hours, or was on disability leave or disability retirement. Only service credit months of service shall be counted in the computation of any retirement allowance or other benefit provided for in this chapter.
For members retiring after May 21, 1971 who were employed under the coverage of a prior pension act before March 1, 1970, "service" shall also include (A) such military service not exceeding five years as was creditable to the member as of March 1, 1970, under the member's particular prior pension act, and (B) such other periods of service as were then creditable to a particular member under the provisions of RCW 41.18.165, 41.20.160, or 41.20.170. However, in no event shall credit be allowed for any service rendered prior to March 1, 1970, where the member at the time of rendition of such service was employed in a position covered by a prior pension act, unless such service, at the time credit is claimed therefor, is also creditable under the provisions of such prior act.
A member who is employed by two employers at the same time shall only be credited with service to one such employer for any month during which the member rendered such dual service.
Reduction efforts such as furloughs, reduced work hours, mandatory leave without pay, temporary layoffs, or other similar situations as contemplated by subsection (15)(c)(iii) of this section do not result in a reduction in service credit that otherwise would have been earned for that month of work, and the member shall receive the full service credit for the hours that were scheduled to be worked before the reduction.
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"Service" for plan 2 members, means periods of employment by a member for one or more employers for which basic salary is earned for ninety or more hours per calendar month which shall constitute a service credit month. Periods of employment by a member for one or more employers for which basic salary is earned for at least seventy hours but less than ninety hours per calendar month shall constitute one-half service credit month. Periods of employment by a member for one or more employers for which basic salary is earned for less than seventy hours shall constitute a one-quarter service credit month.
Members of the retirement system who are elected or appointed to a state elective position may elect to continue to be members of this retirement system.
Service credit years of service shall be determined by dividing the total number of service credit months of service by twelve. Any fraction of a service credit year of service as so determined shall be taken into account in the computation of such retirement allowance or benefits.
If a member receives basic salary from two or more employers during any calendar month, the individual shall receive one service credit month's service credit during any calendar month in which multiple service for ninety or more hours is rendered; or one-half service credit month's service credit during any calendar month in which multiple service for at least seventy hours but less than ninety hours is rendered; or one-quarter service credit month during any calendar month in which multiple service for less than seventy hours is rendered.
Reduction efforts such as furloughs, reduced work hours, mandatory leave without pay, temporary layoffs, or other similar situations as contemplated by subsection (15)(c)(iii) of this section do not result in a reduction in service credit that otherwise would have been earned for that month of work, and the member shall receive the full service credit for the hours that were scheduled to be worked before the reduction.
"Service credit month" means a full service credit month or an accumulation of partial service credit months that are equal to one.
"Service credit year" means an accumulation of months of service credit which is equal to one when divided by twelve.
"State actuary" or "actuary" means the person appointed pursuant to RCW 44.44.010(2).
"State elective position" means any position held by any person elected or appointed to statewide office or elected or appointed as a member of the legislature.
"Surviving spouse" means the surviving widow or widower of a member. "Surviving spouse" shall not include the divorced spouse of a member except as provided in RCW 41.26.162.
Sections 1 through 14 and 16 of this act are each added to chapter 41.50 RCW.