Bill would phase out pensions for public employees in state
After Boeing was able to shift its Machinists from their traditional pensions toward 401(k)-style retirement packages, a Washington State Senator, Doug Ericksen, has put forth a bill which would make the exact same kind of shift for some Washington State employees. Ericksen?s bill, which is in the 60-day legislative session right now, would end all pensions for new hires and offer $10,000 for current employees to transfer into the new retirement system. The employees in the Public Employees Retirement System would be the only ones affected, and Ericksen limited the number of employees who could receive the $10,000 incentive to 2,000. Unlike in other states debating reducing state employee benefits, the Ericksen included the Washington State lawmakers, like himself, in the switch to the new retirement plans. Washington lawmakers have pursued other means of limiting the pension liability in the recent past, such as eliminating automatic pension cost-of-living raises.
See "Bill would phase out pensions for public employees in state", Jim Brunner, The Seattle Times, January 12, 2014