Benefits administrators from school districts, charter schools, and ESDs can sign up for our secure messaging application, HCA Support. Your questions about continuation coverage and other topics will go directly to our Outreach and Training staff. 

The Legislature can only approve or reject the tentative agreement in its entirety. If the Legislature decides not to fund a tentative agreement, the parties are left with no ratified agreement, and both the state and the union coalition would need to return to the bargaining table.

State law requires that bargaining with the union coalition be completed before October 1 to allow for a fiscal analysis of the impact of any tentative agreement. That analysis is necessary to inform the budgetary process that is the responsibility of the Governor and Legislature. In the past, with very few exceptions, this deadline has been met. For future years, the agreement stays in place if no successive  agreement is reached.

In even-numbered years, between July 1 and October 1. Bargaining took place in 2022, effective for the 2024 and 2025 calendar years. In 2024, negotiations will take place for 2026 and 2027.

Collective bargaining law requires that the state negotiate in good faith with the union coalition. There are limits on what details can be shared away from the bargaining table. For the 2018 negotiations, OFM created a bargaining resource team to share news of the negotiations with school administrators.

Engaging with school district administrators is key to understanding their concerns. The Office of Financial Management (OFM) engages school districts and local ESDs to solicit feedback through a bargaining resource team, comprising school district leaders, to inform proposals and concepts exchanged at the bargaining table.

The makeup and structure of the coalition is determined by unions that represent school employees after careful research and consideration. The coalition bargaining team currently includes representatives of: American Federation of Teachers Washington; Association of Washington Principals; Operating Engineers; Public School Employees of Washington; Service Employees International Union; Teamsters; and Washington Education Association. The spokesperson for the coalition is Shawn Lewis, with WEA.

For the state, representatives from the Office of Financial Management (OFM) directly negotiate with a coalition of school employee unions, with staff support from the Health Care Authority (HCA).

The results of bargaining are applied to all employees of school districts and charter schools, regardless of their representation status, and to all represented employees of educational service districts.

RCW 41.56.500 (3) requires that the state bargain for all school employees with a coalition representing school employee unions across the state over funding for health care benefits governed by the SEBB program. By law, the purpose of bargaining is to determine the dollar amount to be contributed on behalf of each employee for health care benefits. The bargaining is not intended to restrict the type, quality, or specific benefit offerings that the SEBB Program offers.