(The Center Square) – Retired police officers and firefighters in Washington are suing the state, trying to block an attempt to access their pension fund that the legislature wants to use to offset ongoing budget shortfalls.
The mostly retired first responders, members of the LEOFF-1 pension program for law enforcement officers and firefighters, argue the move leaves their pension fund vulnerable, and they believe the legislature’s actions are unconstitutional.
Backers of the legislation say the program has been overfunded and they intend to use nearly $900 million to pay back spending from the state’s rainy-day savings account, which was used to help fill an estimated $2 billion budget gap during the 2026 legislative session.
The legislation dissolves the fund at the end of June 2029. It would then reinstate the fund in a different form with what supporters promise would be more than enough to cover remaining members.
The Democrat-backed law barely passed the Legislature, with several Democrats joining all Republicans in opposition.
Ahead of the bill’s passage, opponents argued tapping the pension for other uses could trigger federal IRS violations, putting the tax-exempt status of the entire pension system at risk.
“Our state lawmakers are flirting with a very dangerous move that jeopardizes the futures and securities of Washington’s first responders and retired law enforcement officers, members of our community who have rightly earned these funds through risking their lives for our safety,” said Steve W. Berman, managing partner and co-founder of Hagens Berman, the firm representing the class action plaintiffs, in a news release.
“We believe this law is entirely against the state and federal constitutions and that our clients are absolutely entitled to the funds legally established for their benefit. To use them for other purposes would be a gross miscarriage of justice,” Berman added.
Former King County Sheriff Dave Reichert, a LEOFF 1 member and current secretary of the fund., told The Center Square that to see lawmakers trying to tap the pension fund for “their priorities” was “insulting and disrespectful.”
“There are only about 5,500 of us left alive, and the figure that I last heard is that we’re losing about 8% a year,” Reichert said.
“So that’s only going to increase as we get older. So if you figure 10% a year, we’re going to lose 500 people a year out of 5,000. That’s not too long and we’ll all be gone anyway,” he added.
The former sheriff said learning that lawmakers were dissolving the fund and shifting the money to other priorities has created a lot of stress for fund members.
“They range in age from about 72 to 90, and they [lawmakers] are creating a lot of stress for these senior citizens who have been through a lot of trauma, and seen a lot of disgusting things in their career that affected some with PTSD,” Reichert said.
Reichert grew emotional in discussing recent connections with other retired officers, sharing their career experiences and worries about losing their benefits.
“Their stories are just so sad and powerful. This is so disrespectful is what they see,” he said.
“Just so disrespectful that the state, without any consultation at all, just went ahead and said we have mismanaged our budget, and so we’re going to need to basically just take money from retired cops and firefighters and their beneficiaries.”
The office of Attorney General Nick Brown and the Department of Retirement Systems, both named defendants in the suit, emailed brief responses to The Center Square’s request for comment on the litigation.
Mike Faulk in AG Brown’s office wrote “Our office is still reviewing this filing.”
DRS communications responded to say, “We respect the legal process and are unable to comment while the issue is being litigated.”
Reichert said there were other issues that concerned the litigants.
“The other thing they’re trying to do here is to create a different organization to manage the fund and pay medical benefits because the cities and counties say it’s too much,” he said.
“But if the state takes over management, then our benefits are in jeopardy because they’ve already mismanaged this budget to the point it’s ridiculous.”
“And I would say to anyone that has a public pension, teachers or public employees, you could well be next,” he added.
