H-1590.1
SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1714
State of Washington
69th Legislature
2025 Regular Session
By House Consumer Protection & Business (originally sponsored by Representatives Cortes, Walen, Parshley, Callan, Zahn, Peterson, Shavers, Salahuddin, Street, Reed, Nance, Ormsby, and Hill)
READ FIRST TIME 02/21/25.
AN ACT Relating to enabling opportunities for risk pooling by small businesses for property and liability risks; adding a new section to chapter 82.04 RCW; adding a new chapter to Title 48 RCW; and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. This chapter is intended to provide authority for two or more small business entities to participate in a joint self-insurance program covering property or liability risks. This chapter provides small business entities with the authority to jointly self-insure property and liability risks, jointly purchase insurance or reinsurance, and contract for risk management, claims, and administrative services with other small business entities. This chapter must be liberally construed to grant small business entities maximum flexibility in jointly self-insuring to the extent the self-insurance programs are operated in a safe and sound manner. This chapter is intended to require prior approval for the establishment of every joint self-insurance program. In addition, this chapter is intended to require every joint self-insurance program for small business entities established under this chapter to notify the state of the existence of the program and to comply with the regulatory and statutory standards governing the management and operation of the programs as provided in this chapter. This chapter is not intended to authorize or regulate self-insurance of unemployment compensation under chapter 50.44 RCW or industrial insurance under chapter 51.14 RCW.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.