Reimbursing medical expenses for certain totally disabled public safety personnel (SHB 1679)

As noted in last week’s Bulletin, the bill was approved by the House and has been referred to the Senate Ways & Means Committee.

As proposed, the bill would:

Reimburse members of the Law Enforcement Officers’ and Firefighters’ Retirement System Plan 2 and the Washington State Patrol Retirement System (WSPRS) who are totally disabled in the line of duty for any payments made for employer-provided medical insurance.
Apply prospectively to reimburse payments made after the effective date of the act.
Define totally disabled during the line of duty for WSPRS as those unable to perform any gainful activity.

According to the fiscal note, the bill would have a substantial (greater than $1M) annual impact on local government expenditures for employee retirement benefits. Counties, cities and special districts with law enforcement officers or firefighters participating in the LEOFF 2 retirement plan would be affected.

The state actuary estimates a $1.1 million impact on local government in the 2010-2011 biennium and a $2.9 million impact in the 2011-2013 biennium, with a total impact through 2035 of $52.3 million.

Stating the policy that law enforcement personnel be truthful and honest in the conduct of official business (SSB 6590)

This bill is in response to the Washington State Supreme Court case, Kitsap County Deputy Sheriff’s Guild v.Kitsap County, 167 Wn. 2d 428 (2009). In this case, the court reviewed Washington law and found that there was no explicit, well defined, and dominate public policy requiring termination of an officer found to have been untruthful.

This bill would create a new public policy which states that all commissioned, appointed, and elected law enforcement personnel be truthful and honest in the conduct of their official duties. The bill was passed by the Senate on February 16 and is scheduled for public hearing in the House Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness Committee on February 23 at 10 am.

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