Everett police officer shot, killed in line of duty

Everett police Officer Dan Rocha, 41, died Friday after a man shot at him several times and later drove over him while fleeing, said Courtney O’Keefe, spokesperson with the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office.

Click here to read the full article on the Seattle Times' website.

Your LEOFF 1 Surplus Check is Coming
The GOVERNOR SIGNED SSB 5791 on March 24, 2022

SSB 5791: Providing a lump sum benefit to LEOFF 1 retirees a lump sum benefit of $100 per service credit month for LEOFF 1 members and their beneficiaries.

Members and beneficiaries of members who retire with a line-of-duty disability will receive the greater of a one-time lump sum benefit equal to $100 per service credit month, or $20,000.00, whichever is greater. DRS will contact affected members later this summer regarding distribution options. You will receive your LEOFF 1 surplus check by January 31, 2023.

Andy Wilson, LEOFF 1 Coalition Vice President, and Past President of the Washington State Retired Deputy Sheriff’s and Police Office’s Association made every effort to change the amount from $100.00 per service credit month to at least $300.00, since the LEOFF 1 surplus is 148 percent funded; sorry to say, we did not have the support from other LEOFF 1 organizations. After the payments are made to all the LEOFF 1 members and Beneficiaries, their LEOFF 1 retirement fund is estimated to be about 143 percent funded.

According to the IRS, a closed pension is fully funded at 125 percent, and there is still an extra 18 percent available to give each LEOFF 1 member and beneficiaries, the $300.00 per month.

Just a reminder, the LEOFF 1 Retirement does not pay for your medical benefits; your medical benefits are paid by the agency from which you retired.

There was no one organization, or there was no “Loan Ranger” to take credit for SSB 5791 passing. LEOFF 1 Members, Spouses, Beneficiaries, LEOFF 1 Coalition, Board Members, Dennis Hooper President, Andy Wilson Vice President/Lobbyist, John Zimmaro Secretary, Helen Suprenant Treasurer, Diane Rule Erickson, Jerald Birt, Joyce Willms, Executive Director, and Lobbyist, Washington State Retired Deputy Sheriffs, and Police Officers Association, Joe Dawson, President: Don McCabe, Vice President East Side, Ronnie Johnston, Vice President West Side and Washington State Association of Retired Police Officers Ken Crowder Director, and other organization working together as a team to pass SSB 5791.

Special thanks go out to Senators Mark Schoesler and Shelly Short, who sponsored the Surplus Bill SSB 5791 concerning LEOFF 1. In addition, we all appreciate the work that Senator John Lovick, Steve Conway, Christine Rolfes, and other legislators did and work behind the scenes to ensure SSB 5791 would pass. As a result, legislators both in the Senate and House Voted unanimously to Pass SSB 5791.

You, the LEOFF 1 members, and beneficiaries LEOFF 1 Coalition, Washington State Retired Deputy Sheriffs and Police Officers Association, Washington State Association of Retired Police Officers, and other organizations working together. Thank you for supporting SB 5791.

With your support, the LEOFF 1 members will receive their retirement surplus check to help many LEOFF1 members with economic hardship. This money will go a long way in supporting the Retired LEOFF 1 members and beneficiaries to stay in their homes.

RCW 41.26.240
Increases or decreases in retirement allowances to be determined by the department in accordance with consumer price index.
For purposes of this section:
(1) “Index” shall mean, for any calendar year, that year’s average Consumer Price Index—Seattle, Washington area for urban wage earners and clerical workers, all items (1957-1959=100), compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, United States Department of Labor;
(2) “Retirement allowance” shall mean the retirement allowance provided for in RCW 41.26.100 and 41.26.130, and the monthly allowance provided for in RCW 41.26.160.
Effective April 1 of 1971, and of each succeeding year, every retirement allowance which has been in effect for more than one year shall be adjusted to that dollar amount which exceeds its original dollar amount by the percentage difference which the department finds to exist between the index for the previous calendar year and the index for the calendar year prior to the effective retirement date of the person to whom, or on behalf of whom, such retirement allowance is being paid.
For the purposes of this section, basic allowance shall mean that portion of a total retirement allowance, and any cost of living adjustment thereon, attributable to a member (individually) and shall not include the increased amounts attributable to the existence of a child or children. In those cases where a child ceases to be qualified as an eligible child, so as to lessen the total allowance, the allowance shall, at that time, be reduced to the basic allowance plus the amount attributable for the appropriate number of eligible children. In those cases where a child qualifies as an eligible child subsequent to the retirement of a member so as to increase the total allowance payable, such increased allowance shall at the time of the next and appropriate subsequent cost of living adjustments, be considered the original dollar amount of the allowance.

The annual index for 2021 as 291.704 and for 2020 it was 278.476:
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Databases, Tables & Calculators by Subject
annual index for 2021 as 291.704 and for 2020 it was 278.476

297.704/278.476 = 1.0475, which is how the 4.75 percent has been determined.

Pierce County deputy dies after being shot by suspect during SWAT operation in Spanaway

Deputy Dominique Calata was shot during a SWAT operation on March 15. He died March 16.

Click here to read the full article on King5 News' website.

COLAs for LEOFF Plan 1 (effective April 1, 2022)

Click here to read the updated COLA information.

SSB 5791 PASSED the House

Congratulations LEOFF 1 Members, Spouses, Beneficiaries, and all the LEOFF 1 organizations. SSB 5791 PASSED in the House and Senate and now moves to the Governor’s Desk.

Governor's actions:

• The Governor reviews the bill.
• The Governor may decide to sign it
• Veto part of it
• Veto all of it

SSB 5791 LEOFF 1 Surplus
House Floor Activity Scheduled - 1:30pm

No Amendments as of 1:30pm March 3, 2022

Note: SSB 5701 is number 73 on the schedule, but the bill can be heard at any time.

Click here for the House Calendar for 3/3/2022

Watch the debate on TVW:

Update on LEOFF 1 Surplus, SSB 5791

Governor's actions: The Governor reviews the bill.
The Governor may decide to sign it, veto part of it, or veto all of it. If the Governor vetoes part or all of it, the Legislature may vote to override the veto (this rarely happens).

If the governor does not act on a bill after the allotted number of days, it is as if it was signed. From the Governor's desk, bills go to the Secretary of State who assigns a session law chapter number.

SSB 5791 House Appropriations Committee

Public Hearing on TVW:

• Don McCabe, Vice Present of the Washington State Retired Deputy Sheriffs and Police Officers Association, and a active member of the LEOFF 1 Coalition
• Joyce Willms, Executive Director of the LEOFF 1 Coalition, the only statewide organization exclusively representing Retired LEOFF 1 Members and Beneficiaries.

The LEOFF 1 Surplus belongs to LEOFF 1 Members and Beneficiaries.

House Appropriations Committee - Watch Live

Click here to watch the House Appropriations Committee Meeting live today (Feb. 22) at 3:30PM.

Medicare Coverage Outside the United States is Limited! Click here to find out more

LEOFF Plan 1 disability benefits.

Pension and Investments

Join the Leoff 1 Coalition

Protect Your Retirement Plan and Medical Benefits

The Coalition is the only state wide organization that exclusively represents retired LEOFF1 Members and Beneficiaries.

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