Washington Democrats Raid Police & Firefighter Pensions $4 Billion Pension Surplus to Fund Their Spending Spree, ALL REPUBLICANS VOTED NO

Washington State House Democrats have crossed a dangerous line. Billions stripped from those who serve — millions redirected to political pet projects.

In a brazen vote, they moved to siphon $4 billion out of pension funds meant for law enforcement officers and firefighters — the very people who risk their lives daily — to plug a deficit of their own making.

Every single Republican in the state House voted no.

But Democrats didn’t stop there. While draining retirement security from cops and first responders, they’re planning to funnel $569 million into the so-called Climate Commitment Account — a pet political project wrapped in green rhetoric.

Let that sink in.

They claim there’s “no money” — unless it’s for climate bureaucracy and ideological spending. Then suddenly the vault opens.

This isn’t budgeting. It’s redistribution by political priority.The Democratic-majority House passed recently (in a 55-39 party-line vote, with all Republicans opposing) passed Washington State House Bill 2034.

The bill terminates the old Law Enforcement Officers’ and Firefighters’ Retirement System Plan 1 (LEOFF 1)—a closed legacy plan (no new members since 1977, mostly retirees in their 70s/80s)—and replaces it with a “Restated LEOFF” plan that preserves the same benefits for current members and retirees.

The key move: It transfers surplus funds from the overfunded LEOFF 1 (actuarially around 150-200% funded in recent estimates) to achieve ~120% funding in the new plan. The remaining excess—around $4-4.5 billion—goes into the state’s Pension Funding Stabilization Account (PFSA).

This account supports employer contributions for other underfunded pension systems (like PERS and TRS), and the legislature can direct transfers from it to the general fund during budget shortfalls....