HB 1243 Washington House · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Addressing the burden of unintentional overpayments on older adults and adults with disabilities served by the department of social and health services.

HB 1243 modifies Washington State's rules for collecting overpayments from older adults and adults with disabilities who receive benefits through the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS). It extends the time DSHS can collect unintentional overpayments from 6 to 10 years (unless court action is taken) and creates a new rule allowing DSHS to waive all collection efforts for specific programs starting July 1, 2025. The bill directly affects clients in the aged, blind, or disabled assistance program (RCW 74.62.030) and those receiving services under chapters 74.39, 74.39A, and 71A.12. Key provisions include allowing DSHS to waive collections when equitable estoppel applies and requiring the department to adopt rules for these waivers.

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 12, 2026 Last action Jan 12, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Bill → Substitute Bill · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill text was reformatted from a standard House Bill layout to a Substitute Bill layout, which typically indicates the bill has been reviewed and amended by a legislative committee. The core policy language regarding debt collection limits, waiver authority, and effective dates remains substantively unchanged, though minor formatting adjustments were made to the text of the statute itself.

Scope change

The scope of the bill's applicability remains the same; only the document structure and presentation have changed.

TECHNICAL

The header was updated from 'HOUSE BILL' to 'SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL' and the sponsor attribution was expanded to include the committee name.

The reading date in the header was updated from January 13, 2025, to January 29, 2025.

Minor spacing and line break adjustments were made within the statutory text, but the legal meaning of the debt collection limits and waiver provisions was not altered.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Jan 12, 2026

Introduced

By resolution, reintroduced and retained in present status.

lower

Jan 29, 2025

Committee

Referred to Appropriations.

lower

Jan 24, 2025

Lower · Passed

Executive action taken in the House Committee on Early Learning & Human Services at 9:00 AM.

lower

Jan 21, 2025

Lower · Passed

Public hearing in the House Committee on Early Learning & Human Services at 1:30 PM.

lower

1 primary · 4 co-sponsors