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About Us

Staff Contacts

Office Overview

About Actuaries

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Employment

Office Overview

The Office of the State Actuary is a Legislative agency and provides actuarial services for all of the state-funded or state-sponsored pension plans.   The OSA performs other actuarial services as needed.  We also provide staff for the Select Committee on Pension Policy and maintain the SCPP website.  If you would like more information about the function and responsibilities of the OSA, see Chapter 44.44 of the Revised Code of Washington.

Our Mission Statement

The Office of the State Actuary promotes the security of Washington State public employees’ retirement benefits by providing expert, accurate, and objective actuarial and policy analysis in a cost-effective and timely manner.

Our Values Statement

We model the highest level of professionalism.  We remain independent and unbiased when delivering services in support of our mission.  We value teamwork and collaboration to continually improve the quality of our services and working relationships.  We promote a fun and friendly office culture that provides work-life balance and opportunities to grow.

About Actuaries

Actuaries are professionals involved in measuring and managing financial risk.  In the private sector, they may be employed by insurance companies, banks, or investment firms.  In state government, agencies administering pension, health care, unemployment, or worker's compensation benefits all rely on actuarial calculations in one way or another.

Actuaries estimate the cost of future events based on past experience and established tables of probabilities.  They differ from auditors and accountants in the focus of their work.  While auditors and accountants work to reconcile past economic activity, actuaries estimate the financial implications of events 20, 30, or more years into the future.  This work relies on mathematical principles and assumptions about future economic and demographic trends.

The Washington State Actuary works exclusively on the funding and benefit issues of the state's public retirement systems.  The role of the office as currently defined, is to:

  1. Perform all actuarial services for the Department of Retirement Systems, including all studies required by law.  This includes conducting biennial valuations of the separate systems and making recommendations regarding contribution rate levels to the Pension Funding Council .

  2. Advise the Legislature and the Governor regarding pension benefit provisions, funding issues, and investment policies of the State Investment Board.

  3. Consult with the Legislature and the Governor concerning determination of actuarial assumptions used by the Department of Retirement Systems.

  4. Prepare a report, to be known as the actuarial fiscal note, on each pension bill introduced in the Legislature.  Fiscal notes are also prepared for all amendments which are offered in committee or on the floor of the House or Senate unless waived by a majority of members present.

  5. Provide such actuarial services to the Legislature as may be requested from time to time.

  6. Provide staff and assistance to the Select Committee on Pension Policy.

  7. Provide actuarial assistance to the Law Enforcement Officers' and Fire Fighters' Plan 2 retirement board as provided in Chapter 2, Laws of 2003.

  8. The California Research Bureau (CRB) has provided a plain language primer that summarizes and explains the actuarial methods and practices used by OSA when preparing the various actuarial reports, studies, and fiscal notes. You may access the report directly from the CRB website . Or you may download the report in PDF format .

  9. More information about the actuarial profession in general is available at The Society of Actuaries website.