The Senate Ways and Means Committee heard a number of bills this afternoon, including the House supplemental budget (HB 2127). The latter was probably one of the least controversial bills up for public comment.
Of the most controversial bills is the K-12 health benefits bill, which has morphed several times over the afternoon and evening. Right now, the Senate budget committee is waiting for whatever amendments might come forward that the majority can vote for.
Tune in to TVW about 6:30 pm to see the start of the breakdown in the committee, with Senator Brown and Senator Zarelli, among others, facing off on what is holding the legislature in session longer than it needs to be.
The latest iteration of the bill, which remains unseen to those of us in the audience, would require school districts and their providers to report certain data to the Office of the Insurance Commissioner. Failure to report the data would default all school district employees into the PEBB. The second trigger would occur if 75 percent of school districts fail to meet three criteria by 2015, and would send any members of the largest classified bargaining unit to a classified school employees benefits system, starting 2017. Sound confusing? You bet.
For school directors who participated in the advisory group over the interim as the Health Care Authority drafted its report, we were hopeful but a bit anxious, that a consolidated health benefits system would result in better equity for all employees, more uniform but high quality health plans, and the opportunity for some savings ala the Oregon experience. It is hard to see how districts win or what the benefit is in this most recent "compromise" bill.
Stay tuned for next steps. And TVW junkies ... Tune in.
Updates on the Legislature and state government from the Washington State School Directors' Association.
