Concerning professional fees for certain emergency medical service occupations (SB 6880)

SB 6880 would require emergency medical personnel certified through the Department of Health to pay a fee for certification and license renewal if they receive compensation (i.e., voluntary personnel are exempt). The fees are not explicit in the proposal; however, according to committee staff the intent of the bill is to recover the cost of the certification program which is approximately $300,000 per biennium.

The bill is still in the Senate Rules Committee but may be deemed necessary to implement the budget and addressed during the special session. AWC has concerns with this legislation and another fee on local governments.

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

As noted in previous Bulletins, 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 by the employee 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.
Require totally disabled LEOFF Plan 2 members to enroll in Medicare Plans A and B, if eligible, to receive reimbursement.

The bill was delivered to the Governor for her signature on March 11.

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.

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