House Bill 1354 (H-0397.2), 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session, amends existing law governing public employee benefits. The bill reenacts and amends RCW 41.05.011 to add and revise definitions used in that chapter, including a definition of "legislative session employee" (an employee hired to work for the duration of the regular legislative session whose employment may continue through special sessions). It also amends RCW 41.05.065 to modify duties and authority of the Public Employees' Benefits Board (PEBB), including study and plan‑development responsibilities, standards for comprehensive health benefits, authority to offer a high deductible health plan paired with a health savings account, long‑term care plan provisions, and annual reporting requirements. The bill also defines "tribal government" consistent with ERISA section 3(32). The legal changes are modifications to existing statutes (reenactment and amendment), primarily procedural and definitional: it updates who is included as an “employee” for benefit programs, establishes eligibility and enrollment rules for various groups (including legislative session employees, legislators, other elected and full‑time appointed officials, seasonal employees, and faculty), and clarifies PEBB’s authority to design benefits, set eligibility criteria, offer specific plan types, collect certain fees, and require reports. The bill does not create criminal offenses or change penalties; it changes definitions, eligibility procedures, reporting obligations, and administrative authority related to public employee benefit programs. The provided text is incomplete in several places (multiple sections cut off mid‑sentence), and the full content of the amendment to RCW 41.05.065 and any additional provisions elsewhere in the bill are not fully visible in the extracted facts.

If enacted, the bill makes people hired to work the regular legislative session eligible for the state employee benefit programs on the first day they start work and requires employer contributions to continue without interruption until the final day of the month in which the next regular legislative session begins. In practice this means seasonal or temporary session staff who previously may not have qualified will get PEBB health and related benefits from day one of session and maintain coverage through the off-session period up to the next regular session month, increasing the number of covered individuals and the administrative work to enroll and maintain them. The groups most affected are legislative session employees (who gain benefit access), the legislature and its employing agencies (which must enroll employees and pay employer contributions), and the Public Employees’ Benefits Board and Health Care Authority (which must administer the expanded coverage). The change will likely raise employer costs and administrative workload, and shift some enrollment and premium patterns for insurers; the exact fiscal impact and any other substantive changes to RCW 41.05.065 are unclear because parts of the bill text and the full amendment language are not included in the provided material.