Bill > SB5905

This bill clarifies eligibility for membership in the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) for port workers, aiming to prevent individuals from being covered by multiple public retirement plans for the same service. It specifically addresses situations where port workers are already participating in a federal railroad retirement plan, a union-sponsored defined benefit retirement plan, or another employer-funded private pension plan. The legislation acknowledges a past mutual mistake where some railroad workers were inadvertently included in PERS when their port district joined the system, and it clarifies that employees participating in any federal retirement system are not eligible for PERS for the same period of service. Additionally, it resolves ambiguity regarding port districts' contributions to private pension plans, exempting employees covered by a private Taft-Hartley defined benefit pension plan from PERS membership if the port district contributes to that plan, with this exemption retroactively applying to January 1, 1965.

Budget and Finance

https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=5905&Year=2025&Initiative=false