Washington Commissioner Warns: Excessive Litigation Is Draining the Risk Pool Dry

A county commissioner in Washington State is sounding the alarm: excessive litigation is depleting the public risk pool his county depends on, and without legislative action, schools and local institutions may not survive it.

Steve Rader, Commissioner of District 1 in Cowlitz County, addressed his county's open public meeting on July 27, 2026, with a stark warning after the risk pool failed two consecutive state financial audits. The auditors' conclusion was blunt: the pool "has the possibility of not being able to pay all the claims that they have."

_"But the writing is on the wall. If legislation does not step in and make a change to these, there has to be some sort of reform."_

Rader made clear what comes next if nothing changes. "The writing is on the wall," he said. "If legislation does not step in and make a change to these, a school is going to go away and the state will step in and manage it." He added that the pool's only option to stay solvent is a cash infusion from member counties, and acknowledged plainly: _I don't know that it's going to be around for very much longer._

Cowlitz County is not alone. Across the country, lawsuit abuse is busting city budgets and gutting public services. In Detroit, millions in lawsuit abuse payouts are being diverted away from real community needs. The math is the same everywhere: every dollar paid out to feed a broken litigation system is a dollar taken from the people.

States that have acted have seen real results. Florida's lawsuit abuse reforms drove insurers to file for rate decreases and stabilized a market that was in freefall. Washington lawmakers should take note before Cowlitz County's October numbers make the choice for them.