Legislative Update – September 19, 2026
Can you feel it in the air? It’s getting dark earlier. The leaves are changing color. The mornings are chilly. These are all signs of the inevitable – the state legislative session is only a few months away. Unfortunately, it looks to be a long and harsh one with scarce resources.
As we prepare for a legislative session that will likely involve significant budget cuts, we have two primary areas of focus. The first is protecting the PEBB Medicare Benefit, which is received by every public sector retiree who purchases Medicare insurance through the Public Employees Benefits Board (PEBB). The state provides an automatic premium subsidy of up to $183 per month for all PEBB Medicare retirees. Without this benefit, monthly premiums would increase by up to $183. Unfortunately, this benefit is low hanging fruit – it isn’t contractually guaranteed and could be easily taken away. We defeated a proposal to reduce it earlier this year and are working to educate legislators about its importance.
Our second area of focus is to secure another COLA for TRS 1 and PERS 1 retirees. Unlike members of other pension plans, most TRS 1 and PERS 1 retirees don’t receive automatic annual increases. We are working with the Select Committee on Pension Policy to draft a bill that would provide these retirees with a COLA in 2027. While money is very scarce, there are ways that the legislature could provide a benefit increase at no immediate cost to the state.
During the fast-paced legislative session, we rely on email communications to let you know when we urgently need your help. Please make sure we have your email address by going to www.wssra.org, scrolling down to the bottom of the page, and filling out the box that says “WSSRA Members - Join our email list!”.