Civil service/WaTech

AN ACT Relating to amending the state civil service statutes to 1
include Washington technology solutions network and security systems 2
employees; and amending RCW 41.06.070. 3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
Sec. 1. RCW 41.06.070 and 2024 c 54 s 35 are each amended to 5
read as follows: 6
(1) The provisions of this chapter do not apply to:7
(a) The members of the legislature or to any employee of, or 8
position in, the legislative branch of the state government including 9
members, officers, and employees of the legislative council, joint 10
legislative audit and review committee, statute law committee, and 11
any interim committee of the legislature; 12
(b) The justices of the supreme court, judges of the court of 13
appeals, judges of the superior courts or of the inferior courts, or 14
to any employee of, or position in the judicial branch of state 15
government; 16
(c) Officers, academic personnel, and employees of technical 17
colleges; 18
(d) The officers of the Washington state patrol;19
(e) Elective officers of the state; 20
(f) The chief executive officer of each agency;21
H-2525.2
HOUSE BILL 2249
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Representatives Salahuddin, Berry, Reed, Leavitt, Thomas, Ormsby,
and Fosse
Prefiled 01/05/26. Read first time 01/12/26. Referred to Committee
on State Government & Tribal Relations.
p. 1 HB 2249
(g) In the departments of employment security and social and 1
health services, the director and the director's confidential 2
secretary; in all other departments, the executive head of which is 3
an individual appointed by the governor, the director, his or her 4
confidential secretary, and his or her statutory assistant directors;5
(h) In the case of a multimember board, commission, or committee, 6
whether the members thereof are elected, appointed by the governor or 7
other authority, serve ex officio, or are otherwise chosen:8
(i) All members of such boards, commissions, or committees;9
(ii) If the members of the board, commission, or committee serve 10
on a part-time basis and there is a statutory executive officer: The 11
secretary of the board, commission, or committee; the chief executive 12
officer of the board, commission, or committee; and the confidential 13
secretary of the chief executive officer of the board, commission, or 14
committee; 15
(iii) If the members of the board, commission, or committee serve 16
on a full-time basis: The chief executive officer or administrative 17
officer as designated by the board, commission, or committee; and a 18
confidential secretary to the chair of the board, commission, or 19
committee; 20
(iv) If all members of the board, commission, or committee serve 21
ex officio: The chief executive officer; and the confidential 22
secretary of such chief executive officer; 23
(i) The confidential secretaries and administrative assistants in 24
the immediate offices of the elective officers of the state;25
(j) Assistant attorneys general; 26
(k) Commissioned and enlisted personnel in the military service 27
of the state; 28
(l) Inmate, student, and temporary employees, and part-time 29
professional consultants, as defined by the director;30
(m) Officers and employees of the Washington state fruit 31
commission; 32
(n) Officers and employees of the Washington apple commission;33
(o) Officers and employees of the Washington state dairy products 34
commission; 35
(p) Officers and employees of the Washington tree fruit research 36
commission; 37
(q) Officers and employees of the Washington state beef 38
commission; 39
(r) Officers and employees of the Washington grain commission;40
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(s) Officers and employees of any commission formed under chapter 1
15.66 RCW; 2
(t) Officers and employees of agricultural commissions formed 3
under chapter 15.65 RCW; 4
(u) Executive assistants for personnel administration and labor 5
relations in all state agencies employing such executive assistants 6
including but not limited to all departments, offices, commissions, 7
committees, boards, or other bodies subject to the provisions of this 8
chapter and this subsection shall prevail over any provision of law 9
inconsistent herewith unless specific exception is made in such law;10
(v) In each agency with fifty or more employees: Deputy agency 11
heads, assistant directors or division directors, and not more than 12
three principal policy assistants who report directly to the agency 13
head or deputy agency heads; 14
(w) Staff employed by the department of commerce to administer 15
energy policy functions; 16
(x) The manager of the energy facility site evaluation council;17
(y) A maximum of ten staff employed by the department of commerce 18
to administer innovation and policy functions, including the three 19
principal policy assistants exempted under (v) of this subsection;20
(z) Staff employed by Washington State University to administer 21
energy education, applied research, and technology transfer programs 22
under RCW 43.21F.045 as provided in RCW 28B.30.900(5);23
(aa) Officers and employees of Washington technology solutions 24
created in RCW 43.105.006 that perform the following functions or 25
duties: Systems integration; data center engineering and management; 26
network systems engineering and management; information technology 27
contracting; and information technology customer relations 28
management; ((and network and systems security;))29
(bb) The executive director of the Washington statewide reentry 30
council. 31
(2) The following classifications, positions, and employees of 32
institutions of higher education and related boards are hereby 33
exempted from coverage of this chapter: 34
(a) Members of the governing board of each institution of higher 35
education and related boards, all presidents, vice presidents, and 36
their confidential secretaries, administrative, and personal 37
assistants; deans, directors, and chairs; academic personnel; and 38
executive heads of major administrative or academic divisions 39
employed by institutions of higher education; principal assistants to 40
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executive heads of major administrative or academic divisions; other 1
managerial or professional employees in an institution or related 2
board having substantial responsibility for directing or controlling 3
program operations and accountable for allocation of resources and 4
program results, or for the formulation of institutional policy, or 5
for carrying out personnel administration or labor relations 6
functions, legislative relations, public information, development, 7
senior computer systems and network programming, or internal audits 8
and investigations; and any employee of a community college district 9
whose place of work is one which is physically located outside the 10
state of Washington and who is employed pursuant to RCW 28B.50.092 11
and assigned to an educational program operating outside of the state 12
of Washington; 13
(b) The governing board of each institution, and related boards, 14
may also exempt from this chapter classifications involving research 15
activities, counseling of students, extension or continuing education 16
activities, graphic arts or publications activities requiring 17
prescribed academic preparation or special training as determined by 18
the board: PROVIDED, That no nonacademic employee engaged in office, 19
clerical, maintenance, or food and trade services may be exempted by 20
the board under this provision; 21
(c) Printing craft employees in the department of printing at the 22
University of Washington. 23
(3) In addition to the exemptions specifically provided by this 24
chapter, the director may provide for further exemptions pursuant to 25
the following procedures. The governor or other appropriate elected 26
official may submit requests for exemption to the office of financial 27
management stating the reasons for requesting such exemptions. The 28
director shall hold a public hearing, after proper notice, on 29
requests submitted pursuant to this subsection. If the director 30
determines that the position for which exemption is requested is one 31
involving substantial responsibility for the formulation of basic 32
agency or executive policy or one involving directing and controlling 33
program operations of an agency or a major administrative division 34
thereof, or is a senior expert in enterprise information technology 35
infrastructure, engineering, or systems, the director shall grant the 36
request. The total number of additional exemptions permitted under 37
this subsection shall not exceed one percent of the number of 38
employees in the classified service not including employees of 39
institutions of higher education and related boards for those 40
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agencies not directly under the authority of any elected public 1
official other than the governor, and shall not exceed a total of 2
twenty-five for all agencies under the authority of elected public 3
officials other than the governor. 4
(4) The salary and fringe benefits of all positions presently or 5
hereafter exempted except for the chief executive officer of each 6
agency, full-time members of boards and commissions, administrative 7
assistants and confidential secretaries in the immediate office of an 8
elected state official, and the personnel listed in subsections 9
(1)(j) through (t) and (2) of this section, shall be determined by 10
the director. Changes to the classification plan affecting exempt 11
salaries must meet the same provisions for classified salary 12
increases resulting from adjustments to the classification plan as 13
outlined in RCW 41.06.152. 14
(5)(a) Any person holding a classified position subject to the 15
provisions of this chapter shall, when and if such position is 16
subsequently exempted from the application of this chapter, be 17
afforded the following rights: If such person previously held 18
permanent status in another classified position, such person shall 19
have a right of reversion to the highest class of position previously 20
held, or to a position of similar nature and salary.21
(b) Any classified employee having civil service status in a 22
classified position who accepts an appointment in an exempt position 23
shall have the right of reversion to the highest class of position 24
previously held, or to a position of similar nature and salary.25
(c) A person occupying an exempt position who is terminated from 26
the position for gross misconduct or malfeasance does not have the 27
right of reversion to a classified position as provided for in this 28
section. 29
(6)(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (5) of this 30
section, a person cannot exercise the right of reversion to a 31
classified position if the employee has been given written notice 32
that they are the subject of an active workplace investigation in 33
which the allegations being investigated, if founded, could result in 34
a finding of gross misconduct or malfeasance. The right of reversion 35
is suspended during the pendency of the investigation. For the 36
purposes of this subsection, written notice includes notice sent by 37
email to the employee's work email address. 38
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(b) The office of financial management must adopt rules 1
implementing this section. 2
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