FINAL BILL REPORT

                 SHB 1971

                          C 62 L 98

                     Synopsis as Enacted

Brief Description:  Preventing double payment for insurance benefits for teachers who are legislators.

Sponsors:  By House Committee on Appropriations (originally sponsored by  Representatives Bush, Lambert, Carrell, Talcott, Johnson, Hickel, Cody, Linville, Mitchell, Delvin, Mulliken, Veloria, Zellinsky, Thompson, Smith, Tokuda, Koster, Sherstad, Cole, Mastin, D. Schmidt and Backlund).

House Committee on Appropriations

Senate Committee on Ways & Means

Background: State legislators are eligible to receive insurance benefits as state employees year round.  Teachers are eligible to receive insurance benefits from their local school districts. When a teacher takes a leave of absence from a school district to serve as a legislator, he or she is not eligible to receive insurance benefits from the school district during the leave of absence, although he or she may self-purchase benefits through the school district.  When a teacher/legislator is not on a leave of absence from the school district, he or she is eligible to receive insurance coverage from both the school district and the state.

Summary: A legislator who is a teacher and who takes a leave of absence from a school district to serve as a legislator may choose to waive insurance coverage through the state.  In lieu of such coverage, the House of Representatives or the Senate must pay the school district the amounts due to the school district from the teacher/legislator for self-purchased insurance benefits.  The amount paid by the House of Representatives or the Senate may not exceed the cost of the insurance benefits package that would otherwise be provided through the state.

Votes on Final Passage:

House950

Senate440

Effective:March 20, 1998