SB 5085 Washington Senate · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Concerning three of Washington state's closed retirement plans.

Senate Bill 5085 proposes merging the assets, liabilities, and membership of three of Washington state's closed retirement plans: the Law Enforcement Officers' and Fire Fighters' Retirement System Plan 1 (LEOFF Plan 1), the Teachers' Retirement System Plan 1 (TRS Plan 1), and the Public Employees' Retirement System Plan 1 (PERS Plan 1). The legislature finds LEOFF Plan 1 to be overfunded, while TRS Plan 1 and PERS Plan 1 have unfunded liabilities. The bill aims to improve the funded status of the underfunded plans by utilizing LEOFF Plan 1's excess funds. It also seeks to establish an ongoing funding source for LEOFF Plan 1 if future liabilities emerge and to provide new, ongoing cost-of-living adjustments for TRS Plan 1 and PERS Plan 1 members. The merger intends to protect all members' current benefits, with the resulting plan maintaining distinct benefit tiers for each original system.

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Jan 2026

Senate Passage

Mar 2025

House Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 12, 2026 Last action Jan 12, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Bill → Substitute Bill · 5 edits

MODERATE

This bill merges three underfunded Washington state retirement plans (Law Enforcement, Teachers, and Public Employees) into a single 'Legacy Retirement System' to improve financial stability and funding efficiency. The merger combines assets and liabilities while preserving existing benefits for all members, creating a unified structure to better manage future costs. Additionally, the bill establishes new cost-of-living adjustments for retirees in the merged plans and updates funding contribution schedules to reflect the new combined entity.

Scope change

The bill's scope expands from managing three separate closed plans to administering a single merged retirement system, fundamentally changing how assets, liabilities, and contributions are tracked and applied across the three tiers.

STRUCTURE

Created a new 'Legacy Retirement System' that merges the assets, liabilities, and membership of the Law Enforcement Officers' and Firefighters' Retirement System Plan 1, Teachers' Retirement System Plan 1, and Public Employees' Retirement System Plan 1 into one entity with three distinct benefit tiers.

Eliminated the separate funding tracks and specific amortization deadlines for Plan 1 of each individual system, replacing them with a unified funding mechanism for the new Legacy Retirement System.

FISCAL

Replaced specific amortization schedules for unfunded liabilities with a new rolling 10-year funding approach for the merged system, adjusting contribution rates to reflect the combined financial status of all three plans.

BENEFITS

Established new automatic, fully indexed cost-of-living adjustments for retirees in the merged Teachers' and Public Employees' plans, starting in 2026, to provide ongoing benefit increases previously unavailable to these groups.

TIMELINE

Changed the effective date for most provisions from September 1, 2027, to the earlier of receiving IRS approval or September 1, 2027, while making cost-of-living adjustments effective immediately upon passage (July 1, 2025).

Floor votes · Senate Mar 3, 2025

How they voted

30–21

Passed

Total votes 51

Mar 3, 2025

D Democratic31

29 Yea 2 Nay

93% Yea

R Republican20

1 Yea 19 Nay

95% Nay

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Jan 12, 2026

Committee

Rules Committee relieved of further consideration. On motion, referred to Ways & Means.

upper

Jan 12, 2026

Introduced

By resolution, reintroduced and retained in present status.

upper

Mar 13, 2025

Lower · Passed

Public hearing in the House Committee on Appropriations at 4:00 PM.

lower

Mar 3, 2025

Senate · Passed

Senate Vote: pass (30-21)

senate

Feb 13, 2025

Upper · Passed

Minority; without recommendation.

upper

Feb 13, 2025

Upper · Passed

Executive action taken in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means at 4:00 PM.

upper

Jan 23, 2025

Upper · Passed

Public hearing in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means at 4:00 PM.

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors