Fiscal notes

OSA provides Actuarial Fiscal Notes (AFNs) on certain pension bills that are introduced in the Legislature. We also provide AFNs for programs like Guaranteed Education Tuition (GET) and the WA Cares Fund. These fiscal notes may require significant study and must follow applicable Actuarial Standards of Practice. OSA does not have sufficient resources to produce AFNs on all bills introduced in the Legislature, but our goal is to produce certified actuarial analysis for pension bills that receive hearings in a fiscal committee of the Legislature.

AFNs differ from standard fiscal notes submitted by most other agencies. The fiscal notes from other agencies typically show the expected future cost/savings for that agency if a proposed bill were to pass. Our AFNs, on the other hand, show the expected impact to the program itself, including state budget impacts, if such a bill were to pass. ​

The AFNs produced by our office can be lengthy. In an effort to highlight consistencies in our AFNs and to make them easier to navigate, we developed a framework that many of our AFNs follow. The six infographics below walk through the primary sections of our AFN framework. Each infographic contains the goal and intended audience of the section as well as a summary of the information that can be found in that AFN section. There is also a link to a prior AFN that OSA prepared, so that the reader can see how these infographics come together in the context of an actual AFN. These infographics and prior AFN are focused on bills pertaining to the state pension systems administered by the Department of Retirement Systems. However, many of the takeaways are also transferrable to other programs for which OSA prepares AFNs.​

1. ​ –  Page 1 Summary
2.  –  Policy Summary
3.  –  Cost/Savings Summary
4.  –  Analysis Summary
5.  –  Actuarial Results Summary
6.  –  Other Items Summary
   
   • Prior AFN for Reference​

If you’re interested in accessing past or present AFNs, please see the Legislature's bill information page. 
AFNs approved by the Office of Financial Management can also be accessed directly from their website.