Senate Bill 5882 amends RCW 51.08.142 and adds a new section to chapter 51.32 RCW to change industrial insurance coverage rules for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It requires the relevant department to adopt a rule under chapter 34.05 RCW stating that mental conditions caused by stress are not occupational diseases per RCW 51.08.140, except as the bill provides. The bill removes that general exclusion for specified groups: certain public firefighters (including some private-sector fire departments with more than 50 firefighters), certain law enforcement officers, public safety telecommunicators, direct care registered nurses (by reference to RCW 51.32.395), and local correctional facility workers (defined by reference to RCW 70.48.020). The bill creates a new, rebuttable prima facie presumption that PTSD is an occupational disease for qualifying local correctional facility workers employed on a fully compensated basis; the presumption may be overcome by a preponderance of the evidence. For direct care registered nurses and local correctional facility workers PTSD must develop or manifest after at least 90 consecutive days of fully compensated employment to be covered. The presumption extends after termination for three calendar months per year employed, up to a maximum of 60 months after last employment. The bill also conditions coverage for some hires on completion of preemployment psychological examinations for employees hired after specified dates, specifies licensed psychiatrists and psychologists as exam providers, and provides that if an appeal involving the presumption results in an allowed claim the board or court must order the opposing party to pay reasonable appeal costs (including attorneys’ and witness fees); in state fund cases those costs are paid from the accident fund and charged to the claim. The act takes effect January 1, 2027. The extracted text does not name the specific department required to adopt the administrative rule, does not include the full definitions cited from other RCW sections (RCW 41.26.030, RCW 51.32.395, RCW 51.08.140, RCW 70.48.020), and contains a typographical/formating artifact in one subsection that is unclear from the provided facts.

If passed, the bill will make it substantially easier for people who work in local jails and similar correctional facilities to get workers' compensation for PTSD by creating a presumption that their PTSD is job-related once they have worked at least 90 consecutive days and for a limited period after they leave (three months for each year worked, up to five years). Some other public safety workers, nurses, firefighters, law enforcement, and emergency dispatchers are specifically included or excluded under conditions in the bill, and certain hires must have preemployment psychological exams based on hire date. The presumption can still be challenged by employers or insurers, so successful claims are likely to rise but are not automatic. The practical result will likely be more claims and higher costs for employers and the state accident fund, greater administrative and legal work for agencies that must adopt and apply the new rule, and potential new costs for employers to arrange preemployment psychological exams. If an appeal involving the presumption leads to an allowed claim, the losing party must pay appeal costs and in state fund cases those costs come out of the accident fund and are charged to the claim. The bill text leaves unclear which specific state department must adopt the rule and the exact statutory definitions of the covered job categories referenced elsewhere.