"Washington just became the first state in U.S. history to terminate a public employee pension plan." "I sacrificed my body and a good chunk of my life for our state, they committed to providing a benefit for me and raided it."

x.com ^ | May 6, 2026 | Shane Kidwell @shanerkidwell

[ransomnote]

Shane Kidwell
@shanerkidwell
·
5h
Washington just became the first state in U.S. history to terminate a public employee pension plan.

The plan belongs to retired police officers and firefighters. LEOFF Plan 1 was 160% funded as of June 2024 per the state's own actuarial valuation. It had not required a single contribution in 25 years. By 2029 it was projected to reach 200% funded with a $4.3 billion surplus.

The legislature terminated the plan, swept $3.9 billion, and is using $880 million of it to refill a rainy day fund it already drained to cover a deficit it created.

Days ago, retired first responders including former Congressman Dave Reichert sued the state to stop it. The bill passed the House 55-39 and was advanced out of Appropriations without a public hearing. Every yes vote was a Democrat. The governor signed it in April.

I publish the full research and sourced breakdowns on Substack every week. Search Shane Kidwell if you want the deeper dive.

I sacrificed my body and a good chunk of my life for our state, they committed to providing a benefit for me and raided it.

@GovBobFerguson

@komonews

@KIRO7Seattle

@KING5Seattle

@fox13seattle

@seattletimes

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TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: democrats; misleadingtitle; pension; retirement; theft

[SunkenCiv]

• Jayapal announces she has been working with foreign countries to supply oil to Cuba in defiance of President Trump [05/06/2026]
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• Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) announces she has been working with foreign countries to supply oil to Cuba, in defiance of President Trump. [05/06/2026]

[ChessExpert]

The Democrats run on saving social security. They say Republicans want to stop social security. Just words of course.

Now we see action. Democrats just openly stole retirement funds. If they are capable of doing this in Washington state, they are capable of doing this nationally.

[FreedomNotSafety]

The money was always spent. There has never been a pool of money other than bookkeeping 3rd card Monty.

From day one the money came in and was spent immediately.. The so called surplus was “invested” in gov ious. What does the gov do with proceeds from ious? The spend it.

Ignore all of the political sleight of hand and look at the actual law and follow the money.

[Myrddin]

Ping...have you seen this? Does it affect you?

[FreedomNotSafety]

This is easy to understand. Raid the pension fund. Now as the shortfall develops raise taxes. I bet the pension is not a defined contribution plan but a guaranteed income plan. Police and fire are adept at wringing tax payers dry, they will be fine.

[Nik Naym]

NY has tried several times in several ways to get their hands on the pension fund. At some point they are going to be successful.

Our pension is guaranteed, Sure. But if there is no money to pay it, then what?

And to those who think we should work for free and that we get these great pensions, I will probably get just enough to cover my health insurance, if that, when I retire at 67. And I won’t have any more dental or vision coverage. And no I don’t make a 6 figure salary.

That’s for working in a maximum security prison helping to keep the trash you all want locked up, locked in.

[WASCWatch]

And the GOP Chairman, Kirby Wilber, hired a law firm to contest the election. That law firm was associated with the state Democratic Party. That law firm somehow failed to allege vote fraud in the complaint.

[CodeToad]

Democrats: The political party of the working class...

[oldtech]

Look what the politicians did with Social Security. I hope that justice hits them like a ton of bricks some day. They deserve a firing squad for stunts like this.

[plain talk]

[Lurker]

It’s hard to feel sympathy for someone who believed the promises of politicians.

L

[mass55th]

"That’s for working in a maximum security prison helping to keep the trash you all want locked up, locked in."

I spent 25 years in uniform in NY State corrections. I'd previously worked for the county in Rochester, NY and Utica, NY. I was in Tier I when I first got out of high school. I got married and had kids. Because I was out of the pension system for more than 5 years, when I went to work for the county in Utica, I was placed in Tier 3.

I started out at Auburn. When I first got there, I made an appointment with the pension fund in Albany, and made arrangements to buy my Tier I time back. I spent a little over 3 years at Auburn until they opened a medium security A level prison in Marcy, NY, so I got to move back home.

I made Sergeant in 1989 after waiting five years for promotion, while the State promoted minorities with a lower score ahead of me. The year I took the Sergeant's exam was the one and only time that the State gave minorities extra points. I'm a 78 year old white female, and the ironic thing about it all, was, at the time, there were fewer white female officers and Sergeants working in the department.

Sometime in the late 90's or early 2000, Carl McCall, who was the State Comptroller at the time, introduced a Bill to the State Legislature that would allow individuals who had originally been in Tier I, and had a break in service, to reapply for Tier I status, if they met certain criteria. I applied and was accepted back in Tier I, however, all the money I had contributed as a Tier 3 member remained with the State. I took a reduced pension amount, so that if I died within 15 years of retirement, my sons would get what was left. Well, that 15 years came and went. My pension fund is defunct now, because I happened to live longer than the 15 years the State expected me to.

[mass55th]

"Cops and Fire Fighters don’t have it as tough as you:}"

I worked in uniform in NY State Corrections. I'd say that the police on the street, and the firefighters have it a lot harder than I ever did working behind prison walls. Sure, a correction officer can be injured or killed on the job, but the odds of it happening is a lot less than a police officer on the street, or a firefighter who has to physically fight fires and save peoples' lives. When they leave the house, the odds of them getting back home that night alive are far less than what I contended with all those years.

[T.B. Yoits]

I guarantee that while Washington may be the first state to do this, it won’t be the last.

I see it going the other way.

States could seize property under eminent domain and give it to a developer who promised to better tax yields. Sounds like a plan and what could go wrong?

Well, it turns out that once buyers calculated the risk of seizure into the costs, property values tumbled. No one wanted to take the risk in a seize-property state. Municipalities very quickly had to put laws in place that made eminent domain illegal.

Expect the same with any state that seizes pension funds. It's a one-time theft. After that, every employee and potential employee goes mercenary and the state finds itself unable to fill positions. In this case, police and fire are very bad ones not to be able to fill.

The state is going to see massive departures of employees and not the ones you'd hope would leave, while few qualified candidates will apply for open positions. Some of those positions are required by law and by contract. Good luck getting a licensed engineer to work for the state. Who will then sign off on engineering contracts? The state will beforced to undo the damage, including codifying into law that the pensions can't be seized.

[T.B. Yoits]

One group not mentioned are financial firms for those employees who borrowed against their pensions. The borrowers have every right to send the financial firms after the state because the pension was the collateral for the loan. Ooops.

[rottndog]

This is exactly why you NEVER trust government with your money. If there is a pot of gold within their grasp, they will always find a way to loot it. These defined benefit pensions need to be outlawed.

[rottndog]

If the legislators that terminated a paid for plan suddenly disappear, I guarantee that no jury will convict those who terminated them.

It's called the 3S method...
Shoot
Shovel
Shut up

[Fledermaus]

Public pensions are a grift.

Employees put little or nothing into the system.

[Uncle Miltie]

Government pensions, INCLUDING AND ESPECIALLY SOCIAL SECURITY, are creatures of the legislature subject to change or elimination. This is established Supreme Court precedent. You do not have an ownership right.

[Axenolith]

Oh, they’ll keep paying them but out of the in debt general treasury and they’ll be able to “adjust” payments based on “general societal needs”. Might even kick in a little bonus to the heirs/offspring if you euthanize oneself off it!