Pro-Education Advocacy and Leadership

Our local SAREA is a unit of the Washington State School Retirees Association. As such, we aim to enhance the security and vitality of your retirement years. We provide pro-retiree and pro-education advocacy and leadership to the Washington State Legislature. If you are or have been a certificated or classified school district employee in the State of Washington we are here to recommend support for you to your state legislator.

The WSSRA website has a number of useful links that you can use to communicate with your legislators and follow the progress of retiree related bills as they move through the legislative session. Under the Legislative tab at this homepage are 3 links that will be useful to you.

1. Contact a Legislator
   Here you can identify your district, your legislators, and their contact information. This link also gives advice on: What is the most productive way to contact a legislator, What should I say to my legislator, and When should I contact my legislator.
2. Legislative Priorities
   This link details what our goals are for the upcoming session. They include cost of living adjustments for all plan members, protecting retiree medical benefits, and protecting the present and future of pension funds.
3. Legislative Updates
   When the State Legislature is in session you can follow the progress of all bills in the House and Senate that directly affect your retirement. You can also sign up here for automatic legislative alerts by email.

In addition to the WSSRA resources, there is also a link through the Washington State Legislature website that can send you to the Select Committee on Pension Policy homepage.  The Select Committee on Pension Policy, or SCPP, consists of 20 members who determine what cost of living adjustment for each state retirement plan should be recommended to the legislature each session. Most legislators follow this recommendation when it comes to a vote.  At this website you can see all meeting schedules and the itinerary. You can contact and give input to the committee in 3 ways:

1. email: state.actuary@leg.wa.gov
2. Phone: 360 786-6140
3. Mailing address:
   P.O. Box 40914
   Olympia, WA 98504-0914

We are deeply committed to continuing advocating for your retirement strength and security in our collaborative efforts with all our state legislators.

Legislative Tips

Legislative Hotline: 1-800-562-6000 (in service only during the legislative session)
Leave brief message for legislators and all other officials.