Teamsters-backed pension bill defeated in WA legislature

Maxford Nelsen
May 6, 2025

As the dust settles from the Washington State Legislature’s abysmal 2025 session, Washingtonians are left to calculate just how badly the billions of dollars in new and increased taxes, fees and regulations imposed by progressive lawmakers will affect their personal and business finances.

But there’s at least one thing taxpayers won’t be paying for this year: two pensions for state employees.

At the behest primarily of the Teamsters union, lawmakers introduced and considered legislation that would have allowed unions representing state employees to collectively bargain over retirement benefits.

At present, state employees receive generous pensions administered by the Washington State Department of Retirement Systems. Although unions are well-represented on the committee advising the state on investment decisions and management of its nearly 20 pension plans, the Teamsters and other unions wanted the ability to collectively bargain with the state over the funding of a second set of union-operated and taxpayer-funded pension plans.

Of course, union talking points intentionally misled lawmakers about the scope of the bill, which they assured legislators wouldn’t cost taxpayers a dime, and HB 1069 passed the House of Representatives on a bipartisan 78-18 vote.

Things changed when the Freedom Foundation released an analysis of the expansive proposal, explaining how it could trap the state into paying for two retirements for state workers with little legal ability to exit the union pension plans in the future.

The Freedom Foundation provided the only opposition to HB 1069, sharing its analysis with the legislature, testifying against HB 1069 in committee and highlighting the bill’s problems in media interviews.

In the Senate, not a single Republican supported HB 1069. And although the Democrat majority passed it out of the relevant committees, leadership never brought it to the Senate floor for a vote.

Of course, unions will assuredly try again in 2026. For now, though, it’s good to know common sense can still occasionally prevail, even in Olympia.

- Budget & Taxes, Labor, Legislation, Washington
, HB 1069, Pension, Teamsters

Maxford Nelsen

Director of Research and Government Affairs

mnelsen@freedomfoundation.com

As the Freedom Foundation’s Director of Research and Government Affairs, Maxford Nelsen leads the team working to advance the Freedom Foundation’s mission through strategic research, public policy advocacy, and labor relations. Max regularly testifies on labor issues before legislative bodies and his research has formed the basis of several briefs submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court. Max’s work has been published in local newspapers around the country and in national outlets like the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, The Hill, National Review, and the American Spectator. His work on labor policy issues has been featured in media outlets like the New York Times, Fox News, and PBS News Hour. He is a frequent guest on local radio stations like 770 KTTH and 570 KVI. From 2019-21, Max was a presidential appointee to the Federal Service Impasses Panel within the Federal Labor Relations Authority, which resolves contract negotiation disputes between federal agencies and labor unions. Prior to joining the Freedom Foundation in 2013, Max worked for WashingtonVotes.org and the Washington Policy Center and interned with the Heritage Foundation. Max holds a labor relations certificate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and graduated magna cum laude from Whitworth University with a bachelor’s degree in political science. A Washington native, he lives in Olympia with his wife and sons.