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SB 5168

Concerning the appointment, removal, and salary of the state actuary.

2025-2026 Regular Session Introduced by T'wina Nobles and 1 co-sponsor

Gives the Pension Funding Council power to appoint, remove, and set salaries for the State Actuary, shifting authority from SAAC and reshaping actuarial governance.

Effective date 7/27/2025.
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Bill Summary · SB 5168

SB 5168 — Summary (Chapter 333, 2025 Laws)

Concerning the appointment, removal, and salary of the state actuary. Effective July 27, 2025.

Main purpose

SB 5168 transfers statutory responsibility for appointing, removing, and setting the salary of the Washington State Actuary from the State Actuary Appointment Committee (SAAC) to the Pension Funding Council (PFC). The bill also updates related oversight and office-administration provisions and repeals the SAAC statutory authority.

Key provisions

  • Eliminates the State Actuary Appointment Committee (RCW 44.44.013 repealed).
  • Adds a new provision to chapter 41.45 RCW giving the Pension Funding Council authority to appoint, remove, and set the salary of the state actuary. Actions require an affirmative vote of at least four council members.
  • Requires the PFC, when considering appointment/removal/salary, to consider recommendations from the executive committee of the Select Committee on Pension Policy (SCPP) (as reflected in the enrolled bill).
  • Amends RCW 44.44.030 so that salaries for personnel the state actuary hires are fixed by the actuary but must be approved by the Pension Funding Council (previously approved by the SAAC). Those personnel remain exempt from state civil service law.
  • Maintains actuarial quality rules: all actuarial valuations and experience studies from the Office of the State Actuary must be signed by a member of the American Academy of Actuaries; if the state actuary is not a member, the actuary must, after select-committee approval, contract (up to two years) with an Academy member to assist.
  • Amends SCPP duties (RCW 41.04.281): the SCPP continues to receive actuarial audit results and must study and make recommendations to the PFC on changes to actuarial assumptions or employer contribution rates prior to PFC action.

Who is affected

  • Pension Funding Council (PFC): gains appointment/removal/salary authority and approval role over Office-of-State-Actuary personnel salaries. The PFC consists of six voting members (chairs and ranking members of relevant legislative fiscal committees and the directors of OFM and the Department of Retirement Services).
  • State Actuary and staff: change in appointing authority and in how staff salaries are approved.
  • Select Committee on Pension Policy: retains advisory and review roles; its executive committee’s recommendations are to be considered by the PFC.
  • State retirement systems and employers: indirect effects through governance of actuarial leadership and processes governing assumptions and contribution-rate actions.

Procedural/timeline notes

  • Introduced January 8, 2025; passed both chambers unanimously (House 95–0, Senate 49–0 after House amendments). Governor signed May 17, 2025. Chaptered as 2025 c 333. Effective date: July 27, 2025 (90 days after adjournment).
  • No appropriation and no fiscal note requested in committee reports.

This change centralizes actuarial appointment authority within the PFC (a long-standing pension governance body) and removes the separate SAAC.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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