PREPROPOSAL STATEMENT OF INQUIRY
LABOR AND INDUSTRIES
Subject of Possible Rule Making: WAC 296-15-225 Self-insurance second injury fund assessment, chapter 296-15 WAC governs employers who are permitted to self-insure their workers' compensation obligation pursuant to Title 51 RCW. The department is considering a change to WAC 296-15-225, which provides the calculations used to determine an individual self-insured employer's second injury fund experience rating and assessment rate.
Statutes Authorizing the Agency to Adopt Rules on this Subject: RCW 51.44.040.
Reasons Why Rules on this Subject may be Needed and What They Might Accomplish: The Washington Self-Insurers Association (WSIA) submitted a petition for rule making. The WSIA requests that WAC 296-15-225 be repealed because they believe that the WAC conflicts with the plain meaning of RCW 51.44.040. The petition states that the formula that directs the calculation of each self-insured employer's second injury fund assessment is inconsistent with the calculation authorized in RCW 51.44.040 (3)(a)(ii).
The current rule indicates that a self-insured employer's experience rating is applied to fifty percent of their second injury fund assessment rate. The WSIA believes the intent of the statute is that the department experience rate one hundred percent of each self-insurers assessment rate.
Other Federal and State Agencies that Regulate this Subject and the Process Coordinating the Rule with These Agencies: No other state, local, or federal agency regulates this subject.
Process for Developing New Rule: Labor and industries will work with representatives of the self-insured employer community on all changes to WAC 296-15-225. A public hearing will be held in Tumwater after the proposed language is filed.
Interested parties can participate in the decision to adopt the new rule and formulation of the proposed rule before publication by contacting Margaret Conley, Department of Labor and Industries, Self Insurance Section, P.O. Box 44890, Olympia, WA 98504-4890, phone (360) 902-6723, fax (360) 902-6977, e-mail Mcgm235@Lni.wa.gov.
May 4, 2010
Judy Schurke
Director