Two petitions for rulemaking were received from members of the Retrospective Rating Advisory Committee. Petitioners are requesting revisions to WACs 296-17B-100, 296-17B-720, 296-17B-730, and 296-17B-770. One petition addresses extending requirements currently in WAC for group retro participants to businesses that enroll in individual retro plans. The second addresses retro enrollment requirements for businesses under common majority ownership. This rulemaking is intended to open the dialog with the broader retro community and other stakeholders in order to ensure appropriate public input.680.

This rulemaking is being adopted to make necessary changes in the retrospective rating rules following passage of Engrossed House Bill 2123 (Chapter 37, Laws of 2011), specifically Part 1, creating the Washington Stay at Work Program, and Part 3, Claim Resolution Structured Settlement Agreements; and Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1725 (Chapter 290, Laws of 2011), Section 3, concerning retrospective rating employers who pay for direct care providers for their injured workers. The department also corrected a typographical error in a column heading in WAC 296-17B-920, and made other small housekeeping changes for clarification. The changes were adopted 10/15/2012 and became effective on 12/14/2012.653.