Promoting transparency in certain industrial insurance rate increases.

 S-3500.2

SENATE BILL 6136

State of Washington

69th Legislature

2026 Regular Session

By Senator King

AN ACT Relating to promoting transparency in certain industrial insurance rate increases; amending RCW 51.16.035 ; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The legislature finds that:

(a) Open and transparent governance is an absolute necessity for any state program. With it, the people the government serves are fully informed of its successes and can appropriately address its shortfalls. In its absence, failures continue onward unchecked. At a minimum, the lack of transparent decision making shakes the public's confidence in the state;

(b) This axiom is strained during the premium rate-setting process for the state's workers' compensation program. It has become common practice to artificially limit the premium rate change for certain risk classes below what it should be based on actuarial principles. Meanwhile, the rate classes limited, their actual premium, and how the limited rate is subsidized across other risk classes is not presented in a clear and concise manner;