WSIA

This year's legislative session crossed its halfway point in early March, and bills started passing out of their first chamber:

• Senate Bill 5463. Unfortunately, the bill expanding "good faith and fair dealing" and its penalties and risk of decertification to all self-insured employers passed the Senate on a 29-20 vote. It now heads over to the House of Representatives, where it must be considered in committee and advanced toward a full House vote in order to become law. Our opposition to the measure now shifts accordingly to the House, and we anticipate a public hearing on the bill likely early the week of March 17th. 
• House Bill 1788. The bill that would have originally exploded the time loss and pension systems by adding 100 percent of the value of employer provided health insurance benefits as part of a worker's monthly payment amount, passed the House on a 78-18 vote, but not before it was amended to take out the health insurance component. As it passed the House, it now changes the 60-75% sliding scale for benefits to align rates between married and unmarried workers with dependents. L&I estimates this change as having about a $7 million cost increase annually to the State Fund. Self-insurers' mileage would vary, obviously, based on the kinds of claims involved. 
• Other activity - PTSD bills. House Bill 1070, on presumptive PTSD for state and local government correctional facility employees, failed to receive a vote in the House Appropriations Committee last Friday, and would be considered dead for the year. House Bill 1002, on non-presumptive PTSD occupational disease coverage for county coroners, has been eligible for a vote in the House and may end up passing over to the Senate for further consideration. It has until next Wednesday, March 12th to pass the House to remain alive.