This bill creates and defines a school employees' benefits board (SEBB) within an existing "authority" to design and approve insurance benefit plans for school employees and to establish eligibility criteria. It sets SEBB membership, gubernatorial appointment timing, staggered term lengths, compensation and travel reimbursement rules, authority to pay for substitute employees who serve on the board, selection of a chair and vice chair, and bylaw development. The bill amends RCW 41.05.740 and requires SEBB to participate with the authority in selecting carriers and coordinating purchasing with the public employees' benefits board. Substantive changes require SEBB to develop plans covering health care, life, liability, accidental death and dismemberment, and disability insurance (with liability insurance not extended to dependents), and to set minimum eligibility, enrollment, and coverage terms. The bill sets a minimum eligibility floor of anticipated work of at least 630 hours per school year and creates a presumption of eligibility at the start of a school year if that threshold was met in the prior year and the employee returns to the same type of position. It defines dependent categories, caps an employee's share of family coverage premiums at no more than three times the single coverage premium, permits eligible employees to choose one SEBB health plan or waive coverage, requires SEBB to establish penalties for organizations that fail to meet participation criteria, and allows local negotiated exceptions for employees expected to work under 630 hours as an enrichment to the state's basic education definition. The bill also phases out the "smart health" wellness program administered by SEBB: the program and wellness incentive are discontinued as of January 1, 2028, with employees who met eligibility by December 31, 2027, receiving the incentive in plan year 2028 but no longer able to earn it after that date. The measure requires the authority to have reviewed SEBB plans and reported by November 30, 2021, on certain prior law cost-savings, and it references several other RCWs without including their text. The text provided does not identify the specific agency named as "the authority," does not show the full prior statutory language being amended, and includes past dates (appointments by September 30, 2017 and a report due November 30, 2021) that are not explained in this extracted material. Some referenced RCWs and prior law chapters are cited but their contents are not included here.

If enacted, the bill makes a new school employees' benefits board (SEBB) within the unnamed authority the group that designs and approves school employee insurance and sets who gets coverage, with members appointed by the governor and paid travel/compensation and substitute pay limits covered from SEBB funds. Practically, school employees who work at least 630 hours a year gain a clear eligibility floor and a presumption of continued eligibility if they return to the same type of job; family premium contributions by employees would be capped at no more than three times the single plan premium, which likely reduces employee out‑of‑pocket costs and shifts more premium expense onto employers or the plans. The smart health wellness incentive and online portal would stop being offered after January 1, 2028 (but people who qualified by December 31, 2027, still get the 2028 payout), SEBB organizations can locally negotiate eligibility for those under 630 hours but must use SEBB benefits and face penalties for noncompliance, and SEBB must coordinate carrier selection and purchasing with the public employees' benefits board. Key implementation details are missing from the extracted text: the agency named as "the authority" isn’t specified, several cited RCWs and past deadlines (appointments by 2017 and a 2021 report) are out of date or unexplained, and the bill’s net fiscal effects on employers, the state, and carriers aren’t shown. Those gaps make the exact budgetary impacts, who ultimately pays for any increased premium costs, and how enforcement of local negotiation rules will work unclear.