FCRIB working for all University employees
By Diane Martin
The Faculty Council on Retirement, Insurance and Benefits
Diane Martin
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The Faculty Council on Retirement, Insurance and Benefits (FCRIB) is monitoring state legislative developments on behalf of all University employees. From our perspective, the major problem for this Legislature is insufficient state revenue to maintain health insurance benefits and to increase higher education salaries. The state’s biennial budget will be affected by a decrease in state revenue resulting from a slowing economy, Initiative 601 spending limits and the
I-695 removal of the motor vehicle excise tax.
Increased entitlement or mandated expenses for the state arise from more school age children and prisoners, the I-732 mandated salary increase for K-12 teachers, and health costs (primarily medical costs) that are projected to increase by 15-20 percent each year of the biennium. To maintain state employees’ health benefits at their current level would produce a shortfall of $800 million. Solutions that may be considered by the state Legislature include:
FCRIB will monitor legislative developments, aid in developing a strategy to maximize benefits and salaries, and keep you informed of what is happening in Olympia. We believe that salaries and benefits are of equal importance. FCRIB is actively seeking UW employees’ input and we will communicate those wishes to our legislative representatives.
We will work with the Classified Staff Association, institutions of higher education and other state employee groups to maintain benefits and increase salaries. Changes in benefits/salaries may have very different effects on faculty and staff depending on salary, family size, age and years of service. We will attempt to estimate the effects of proposed changes for representative subgroups of UW employees.
FCRIB is “responsible for all matters of policy relating to faculty retirement, insurance and benefits” (UW Handbook, Vol. II, Sec. 42-44). Although this is a faculty council, we consider the needs of all employees of the University. Our council includes members of the faculty, professional, contract, and classified staff, librarians, retirees and students, as well as representatives from the administration and Benefits Office. We also keep in touch with staff from the Washington State Health Care Authority, TIAA/CREF and several other vendors that oversee state employees’ benefits and retirement programs.
Our goals are to expand benefits and retirement options and to provide better access to information about retirement, insurance and benefits. In addition to our legislative watch, this year’s priorities include:
In past years, FCRIB has had significant accomplishments in: expanding the University’s definition of retiree; allowing faculty and staff retiring under the UW Retirement Plan to cash out 100 percent of their retirement accumulation; helping to implement 40 percent re-employment after retirement; allowing faculty and staff to pay for parking with before-tax dollars; and aiding in the development of benefits information on the Web.
You can help yourself and us in the following ways. First, be informed about your own retirement, insurance and other benefits needs and options. Visit MyUW, Employee Self-Service, to find your personal payroll, insurance, retirement, and other benefit information (http://myuw.washington.edu).
You can also visit the Human Resources benefits Web site to obtain more information about retirement programs and benefits available to UW employees, including medical, dental and life insurance, the voluntary investment programs, dependent care assistance, tuition exemption, and Hometown Home Loans (http://www.washington.edu/admin/benefits).
Second, tell us what you want for improved or additional benefits and the best ways to provide you with information and advice about retirement, benefits, and financial planning. Please e-mail suggestions to dianemar@u-.washington.edu.
Third, help us influence the decisions of the state Legislature regarding benefits and salaries by contacting our government relations staff as well as your state legislators (http://www.leg.wa.gov/wsladm/default.htm). Dick Thompson is director of Government Relations (dthomps@u-.washington.edu), while Richard Ludwig (legrep@u.washington.edu) and Jan Sjavik (sjavik@u.washington.edu) are our faculty legislative representatives. Look for future articles in University Week as the current legislative session progresses.
Lastly, we encourage you to volunteer to be a member of FCRIB next year. Minutes of our meetings and other documents regarding benefits, financial planning, and retirement may be found on our Web site http://www.washing-ton.edu/faculty/facsenate/councils/fcrib/fcrib.html.