This bill adds a new section to chapter 51.14 RCW creating a new statutory procedure under which "the department" will assume and fulfill the obligations of certain decertified self-insured employers, including paying compensation. The covered employers are self-insurers authorized under RCW 51.14.150 and self-insuring counties, cities, or municipal employers whose self-insurer status is terminated under RCW 51.14.080. The new section makes the decertified employer liable to and required to reimburse the department for all payments the department makes on its behalf. Reimbursement is to be collected by periodic charges of not less than quarterly, in a manner to be determined by the director. The director must adopt rules to implement the section, including rules on continuing obligations of decertified self-insured employers and methods for meeting financial obligations. This is a new statutory provision creating a procedural and financial mechanism (not a new crime or penalty change) that affects the department, the director, and the specified self-insurers. The extracted text does not define "the department" or "the director" (though the Department of Labor & Industries requested the bill), does not provide an effective date, and does not specify how periodic charges will be calculated or administered; it also relies on RCW 51.14.150 and RCW 51.14.080 for scope but those provisions are not included here.

If this becomes law, the state agency named in the bill will step in and pay workers’ compensation obligations for certain employers that lose their self-insured status (including self-insurers authorized under RCW 51.14.150 and counties, cities, or other municipal employers terminated under RCW 51.14.080). Those formerly self-insured employers will be required to reimburse the agency for everything it pays on their behalf, and the agency will collect that reimbursement by periodic charges at least quarterly; the agency director must write rules on ongoing obligations and how payments are collected. The people most affected are the decertified self-insured employers (including municipal employers), which will face new, recurring billing from the state and potential cash-flow pressure as the state fronts payments and then seeks reimbursement. The responsible agency will take on upfront payment and rulemaking work, creating administrative and collection tasks. Key details are missing from the text provided: the bill does not explicitly name the department in the new section (although the Department of Labor & Industries requested the bill), it has no effective date here, and it leaves how charges are calculated and what happens if a decertified employer can’t pay to the director’s forthcoming rules.