STATE BUDGET

I was encouraged to read in your editorial last week that Governor Gregoire reads the Columbia Basin Herald. At your editorial board meeting with the governor, she asked for suggestions to solve the state budget crunch. One area to look at might be the state retirement systems.

How much savings would there be by combining the eight retirement systems for state employees administered by the State of Washington Department of Retirement into one? The eight systems include 13 plans with different rules and regulations. There is also a Deferred Compensation Plan administered by the DRS that is available to state employees.

An article in the Washington State School Retirees’ Association’s March/April 2010 issue of “The Journal,” states that proposed SB 6516 has been projected by the State Actuary to have a 25-year total employer savings of $60.5 million. This bill would establish Plan 2 as the default plan for new employees in TRS (Teacher Retirement System), PERS (Public Employees Retirement System) and SERS (School Employees Retirement System). Newly-hired employees have 90 days to choose between the fully Defined Benefit Plan 2 and the “split” Defined Benefit/Defined Contribution Plan 3. And this estimated savings is by changing one rule. What would the savings be by combining all state retirement systems into one?

Susan Miller

Coulee City