Washington state employer representatives testified against a proposed 4.8% rate hike during a public hearing last week, according to a report by nonprofit news outlet The Center Square.

Tom Kwieciak

The Washington State Department of Labor and Industries in September said the increase was necessary because general wage inflation and increasing medical costs are making it more expensive to provide benefits to injured workers.

Tom Kwieciak, a representative for the Washington Farm Bureau and the Building Industry Association of Washington said the proposal would hit agricultural and residential construction sectors particularly hard. Kwieciak said that when viewed together with other labor costs and current economic conditions, the rate hike is not welcome news for businesses throughout the state.

He was also critical of L&I’s plan to draw down its contingency reserves to reduce the extent of the rate increase.

“Employers will certainly be the ones bearing the brunt of making the system solvent when we eventually run out of contingency reserve money,” he said. “We must face the fact that our system needs to be reformed.”

L&I said it will adopt final rates by Nov. 30.

More information about the 2023 rate proposal is here.