Appellant: overturn Regnier; federal regulation should inform state offset calculation

Brian Wright, counsel for Gary Eder, began the argument by asking the court to overturn the decision the transcript variously cites as Rainier or Regnier and to read Washington's offset statute in light of federal law.

"I'm asking this court to overturn Rainier v. Department of Labor and Industries," Wright said, arguing the Court of Appeals and Rainier incorrectly interpreted how Washington incorporates 42 U.S.C. 1424a and the implementing regulation. Wright urged that the federal implementing regulation (20 CFR 404.408) and its long history of application should inform how the state calculates offsets when a statute expressly references the federal statute.

Wright acknowledged there is no definitive record-wide tally of how many workers would be affected, but said the retroactive-benefit math for Mr. Yetter could be done and that a remand would likely be required to recalculate offsets if the court rules for the appellant. He also highlighted an age-62 issue where the mechanics of reverse-offsets can produce different outcomes depending on which system (state or SSA) takes the offset.