OLYMPIA, Wash (AP) — Many workers in Washington state government would be shifted out of pensions and into a 401(k)-style retirement system under a bill heard Monday in a state Senate committee.

The plan developed by Senate Majority Leader Rodney Tom would put new workers and those under the age of 45 into defined-contribution plans funded mostly by the employees. Tom said the idea is designed to give government workers more flexibility with their retirement savings and ease concerns of some taxpayers who may not want to fund defined-benefit plans that are becoming less common in the private sector.