Security guards board

AN ACT Relating to establishing the state security guards 1
industry standards board; reenacting and amending RCW 43.79A.040 and 2
43.79A.040; adding a new section to chapter 18.170 RCW; adding a new 3
chapter to Title 49 RCW; providing an effective date; and providing 4
an expiration date. 5
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:6
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The definitions in this section apply 7
throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires 8
otherwise.9
(1) "Board" means the state security guards industry standards 10
board established under this chapter. 11
(2) "Department" means the department of labor and industries.12
(3) "Director" means the director of the department of labor and 13
industries or the director's designee. 14
(4) "Security guard" includes any "private security guard" as 15
defined under RCW 18.170.010. 16
(5) "Security guard employer" has the same meaning as "employer" 17
under RCW 18.170.010. 18
(6) "Worker organization" means a worker organization that is 19
certified by the board to conduct trainings under section 4 of this 20
act. 21
H-2931.1
HOUSE BILL 2524
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Representatives Obras, Thomas, Berry, Ryu, Bernbaum, Parshley,
Macri, Gregerson, Ormsby, Donaghy, Fosse, Scott, and Zahn
Read first time 01/16/26. Referred to Committee on Labor & Workplace
Standards.
p. 1 HB 2524
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. (1) The state security guards industry 1
standards board is established under this chapter. The board is 2
composed of members appointed by the governor as provided in this 3
subsection:4
(a) Three representatives of security guards from a list of at 5
least six people submitted by the largest organization representing 6
security guard employees; 7
(b) Three representatives of security guard employers who reside 8
in the state of Washington, including an employer representing a 9
small business of less than 50 employees; 10
(c) One member of a nonprofit professional development or 11
training program for security guards; 12
(d) One member representing consumers of security guard services 13
from a list of three people submitted by a nonprofit organization; 14
and 15
(e) The director. 16
(2) Except for the director under subsection (1)(e) of this 17
section, board members appointed under this section shall serve four-18
year terms following the initial staggered lot determination in 19
subsection (3) of this section and must not be appointed to more than 20
two full consecutive four-year terms. The governor shall fill 21
vacancies occurring prior to the expiration of a member's term by 22
appointment for the unexpired term. A member serves until a successor 23
is appointed. 24
(3)(a) The governor must make initial appointments to the board 25
no later than September 1, 2026. The initial terms for board members 26
appointed under subsection (1)(a) and (b) of this section must be 27
determined by lot as follows: 28
(i) One member appointed under subsection (1)(a) and (b) of this 29
section shall serve a two-year term; 30
(ii) One member appointed under subsection (1)(a) and (b) of this 31
section shall serve a three-year term; and 32
(iii) One member appointed under subsection (1)(a) and (b) of 33
this section shall serve a four-year term. 34
(b) The director must convene the first meeting of the board by 35
October 1, 2026. The board must elect a chair at its first meeting.36
(4) The board shall elect a member by majority vote to serve as 37
its chairperson and shall determine the term to be served by the 38
chairperson. 39
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(5) Board members must be compensated in accordance with RCW 1
43.03.220 and must be reimbursed for travel expenses as provided in 2
RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060. 3
(6) The affirmative vote of five board members is required for 4
the board to take any action. 5
(7) To carry out its duties, the board shall hold public hearings 6
on, and conduct investigations into, working conditions in the 7
security guard industry. 8
(8) The director may employ personnel to carry out duties of the 9
board under this chapter. 10
(9) The director shall provide administrative staff support to 11
the board. 12
(10) The department may adopt rules to implement and enforce this 13
chapter. 14
(11) The board is subject to the requirements of chapters 34.05 15
and 42.56 RCW. 16
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. (1) By January 1, 2028, the board must 17
adopt rules establishing minimum employment standards for security 18
guards, which must include standards for:19
(a) Minimum compensation; 20
(b) Paid leave; 21
(c) Employment benefits; and 22
(d) Training, subject to the requirements in section 4 of this 23
act. 24
(2) The board may not adopt standards that are less protective of 25
or beneficial to security guards as any other applicable statute or 26
rule or any standard previously established by the board.27
(3) The board must investigate market conditions and the existing 28
wages, benefits, and working conditions of security guards in all 29
relevant geographic areas in the state. Based on this information, 30
the board must seek to adopt minimum employment standards under this 31
chapter that meet or exceed existing industry conditions for a 32
majority of security guards in each relevant geographic area. At 33
least once every four years, the board shall conduct a full review of 34
the adequacy of the minimum employment standards previously 35
established by the board and modify standards as appropriate to meet 36
the purposes of this chapter. 37
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NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. (1) The board must certify worker 1
organizations that are qualified to provide training to security 2
guards under this section. The board shall establish by rule criteria 3
that a worker organization must meet in order to be certified and 4
provide a process for certification renewal. The criteria must ensure 5
that a worker organization, if certified, is able to provide 6
effective, interactive training required under this section.7
(2) The board shall establish requirements for the training 8
curriculum. The curriculum must, at a minimum, provide the following 9
information to security guards: 10
(a) The applicable employment standards established by the board;11
(b) The labor standards and protections under other applicable 12
local, state, and federal laws and rules including, but not limited 13
to, rights to paid family and medical leave under chapter 50A.05 RCW;14
(c) Information on how to initiate an enforcement action under 15
this chapter; and 16
(d) Any other information the board deems appropriate to 17
facilitate compliance with this chapter. 18
(3) A security guard employer must ensure its security guards 19
complete training provided by a certified worker organization at 20
least once every two years. The security guard employer must certify 21
its compliance with this section to the board. 22
(4) The board must review the adequacy of the curriculum 23
requirements at least annually and revise the requirements as 24
appropriate to meet the purposes of this chapter. 25
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. Nothing in this chapter may be construed 26
to:27
(1) Limit the rights of parties to a collective bargaining 28
agreement to bargain employment standards; or 29
(2) Diminish the obligation of a security guard employer to 30
comply with any contract, collective bargaining agreement, or 31
employment benefit program or plan that meets or exceeds, and does 32
not conflict with, the minimum standards and requirements established 33
by the board under this chapter. 34
NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. (1) It is unlawful for a security guard 35
employer to violate any employment standard established by the board 36
under this chapter.37
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(2) The minimum wage requirements established under this chapter 1
must be enforced as a wage payment requirement under chapter 49.48 2
RCW. 3
(3)(a) For all other violations of this chapter not otherwise 4
enforced as a wage payment requirement, the department may 5
investigate if a complaint is filed with the department alleging a 6
violation of this chapter or if the department has reason to believe 7
that an employer has committed a violation of this chapter.8
(b) Except when a violation is otherwise resolved, the department 9
must issue: (i) A citation assessing a civil penalty under (c) of 10
this subsection if it finds a violation has occurred; or (ii) a 11
closure letter detailing any findings if it finds that a violation 12
cannot be substantiated. The notice of a citation or closure letter 13
must be sent to the employer by service of process or using a method 14
by which the mailing can be tracked or the delivery can be confirmed 15
to the last known address. 16
(c) If the department finds a violation of this chapter, the 17
department may order the employer to pay the department a civil 18
penalty of $1,000 for each willful violation. For a repeat willful 19
violator, the citation assessing a civil penalty must be at least 20
$2,000 for each repeat willful violation, but no greater than $10,000 21
for each repeat willful violation. The department may, at any time, 22
waive or reduce a civil penalty assessed under this section if the 23
department determines that the employer has taken corrective action 24
to resolve the violation. Collections of unpaid penalties under this 25
chapter must be handled pursuant to the procedures in RCW 49.48.086. 26
Penalties collected under this chapter must be deposited into the 27
supplemental pension fund established under RCW 51.44.033.28
(d) The department must adopt rules for purposes of implementing 29
the enforcement under this section including, but not limited to, 30
rules establishing the processes for appeals of citations issued 31
under this section in accordance with chapter 34.05 RCW.32
(4) For purposes of this section, the following definitions 33
apply: 34
(a) "Repeat willful violator" means any hiring entity that has 35
been the subject of a final and binding citation for a willful 36
violation of one or more rights under this chapter, and all 37
applicable rules, within three years of the date of issuance of the 38
most recent citation for a willful violation of one or more such 39
rights. 40
p. 5 HB 2524
(b) "Willful" means a knowing and intentional action that is 1
neither accidental nor the result of a bona fide dispute.2
NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. Any security guard injured by any act in 3
violation of this chapter has a civil action in a court of competent 4
jurisdiction to enjoin further violations and recover the actual 5
damages, plus reasonable attorneys' fees and costs.6
NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. The state security guards industry 7
standards board account is created in the custody of the state 8
treasurer. All fees remitted by the department of licensing under 9
section 9 of this act must be deposited into the account. 10
Expenditures from the account may only be used for supporting the 11
costs of the board. Only the director may authorize expenditures from 12
the account. The account is subject to allotment procedures under 13
chapter 43.88 RCW, but no appropriation is required for expenditures.14
NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. A new section is added to chapter 18.170 15
RCW to read as follows: 16
The department shall remit $25 from any license fee collected 17
under RCW 18.170.030, 18.170.040, and 18.170.060 to the department of 18
labor and industries for deposit into the account created in section 19
8 of this act. 20
Sec. 10. RCW 43.79A.040 and 2025 c 399 s 13 and 2025 c 190 s 3 21
are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:22
(1) Money in the treasurer's trust fund may be deposited, 23
invested, and reinvested by the state treasurer in accordance with 24
RCW 43.84.080 in the same manner and to the same extent as if the 25
money were in the state treasury, and may be commingled with moneys 26
in the state treasury for cash management and cash balance purposes.27
(2) All income received from investment of the treasurer's trust 28
fund must be set aside in an account in the treasury trust fund to be 29
known as the investment income account. 30
(3) The investment income account may be utilized for the payment 31
of purchased banking services on behalf of treasurer's trust funds 32
including, but not limited to, depository, safekeeping, and 33
disbursement functions for the state treasurer or affected state 34
agencies. The investment income account is subject in all respects to 35
chapter 43.88 RCW, but no appropriation is required for payments to 36
p. 6 HB 2524
financial institutions. Payments must occur prior to distribution of 1
earnings set forth in subsection (4) of this section.2
(4)(a) Monthly, the state treasurer must distribute the earnings 3
credited to the investment income account to the state general fund 4
except under (b), (c), and (d) of this subsection. 5
(b) The following accounts and funds must receive their 6
proportionate share of earnings based upon each account's or fund's 7
average daily balance for the period: The 24/7 sobriety account, the 8
Washington promise scholarship account, the Gina Grant Bull memorial 9
legislative page scholarship account, the Rosa Franklin legislative 10
internship program scholarship account, the Washington advanced 11
college tuition payment program account, the Washington college 12
savings program account, the accessible communities account, the 13
Washington achieving a better life experience program account, the 14
Washington career and college pathways innovation challenge program 15
account, the community and technical college innovation account, the 16
agricultural local fund, the American Indian scholarship endowment 17
fund, the behavioral health loan repayment and scholarship program 18
account, the Billy Frank Jr. national statuary hall collection fund, 19
the foster care scholarship endowment fund, the foster care endowed 20
scholarship trust fund, the contract harvesting revolving account, 21
the Washington state combined fund drive account, the county 911 22
excise tax account, the county road administration board emergency 23
loan account, the toll collection account, the developmental 24
disabilities endowment trust fund, the energy account, the energy 25
facility site evaluation council account, the fair fund, the family 26
and medical leave insurance account, the Fern Lodge maintenance 27
account, the fish and wildlife federal lands revolving account, the 28
natural resources federal lands revolving account, the food animal 29
veterinarian conditional scholarship account, the forest health 30
revolving account, the fruit and vegetable inspection account, the 31
educator conditional scholarship account, the game farm alternative 32
account, the GET ready for math and science scholarship account, the 33
Washington global health technologies and product development 34
account, the grain inspection revolving fund, the Washington history 35
day account, the industrial insurance rainy day fund, the law 36
enforcement officers' and firefighters' plan 2 expense fund, the 37
local tourism promotion account, the low-income home rehabilitation 38
account, the medication for people living with HIV rebate revenue 39
account, the homeowner recovery account, the multiagency permitting 40
p. 7 HB 2524
team account, the northeast Washington wolf-livestock management 1
account, the pollution liability insurance program trust account, the 2
public use general aviation airport loan revolving account, the 3
regional transportation investment district account, the rural 4
rehabilitation account, the Washington sexual assault kit account, 5
the stadium and exhibition center account, the youth athletic 6
facility account, the self-insurance revolving fund, the children's 7
trust fund, the Washington horse racing commission Washington bred 8
owners' bonus fund and breeder awards account, the Washington horse 9
racing commission class C purse fund account, the individual 10
development account program account, the Washington horse racing 11
commission operating account, the life sciences discovery fund, the 12
Washington state library-archives building account, the reduced 13
cigarette ignition propensity account, the center for deaf and hard 14
of hearing youth account, the school for the blind account, the 15
public employees' and retirees' insurance reserve fund, the school 16
employees' benefits board insurance reserve fund, the public 17
employees' and retirees' insurance account, the school employees' 18
insurance account, the state security guards industry standards board 19
account, the long-term services and supports trust account, the 20
radiation perpetual maintenance fund, the Indian health improvement 21
reinvestment account, the department of licensing tuition recovery 22
trust fund, the student achievement council tuition recovery trust 23
fund, the tuition recovery trust fund, the industrial insurance 24
premium refund account, the mobile home park relocation fund, the 25
natural resources deposit fund, the Washington state health insurance 26
pool account, the federal forest revolving account, the Washington 27
saves administrative trust account, and the library operations 28
account. 29
(c) The following accounts and funds must receive 80 percent of 30
their proportionate share of earnings based upon each account's or 31
fund's average daily balance for the period: The advance right-of-way 32
revolving fund, the advanced environmental mitigation revolving 33
account, the federal narcotics asset forfeitures account, the high 34
occupancy vehicle account, the local rail service assistance account, 35
and the miscellaneous transportation programs account.36
(d) Any state agency that has independent authority over accounts 37
or funds not statutorily required to be held in the custody of the 38
state treasurer that deposits funds into a fund or account in the 39
custody of the state treasurer pursuant to an agreement with the 40
p. 8 HB 2524
office of the state treasurer shall receive its proportionate share 1
of earnings based upon each account's or fund's average daily balance 2
for the period. 3
(5) In conformance with Article II, section 37 of the state 4
Constitution, no trust accounts or funds shall be allocated earnings 5
without the specific affirmative directive of this section.6
Sec. 11. RCW 43.79A.040 and 2025 c 399 s 14 and 2025 c 190 s 4 7
are each reenacted and amended to read as follows: 8
(1) Money in the treasurer's trust fund may be deposited, 9
invested, and reinvested by the state treasurer in accordance with 10
RCW 43.84.080 in the same manner and to the same extent as if the 11
money were in the state treasury, and may be commingled with moneys 12
in the state treasury for cash management and cash balance purposes.13
(2) All income received from investment of the treasurer's trust 14
fund must be set aside in an account in the treasury trust fund to be 15
known as the investment income account. 16
(3) The investment income account may be utilized for the payment 17
of purchased banking services on behalf of treasurer's trust funds 18
including, but not limited to, depository, safekeeping, and 19
disbursement functions for the state treasurer or affected state 20
agencies. The investment income account is subject in all respects to 21
chapter 43.88 RCW, but no appropriation is required for payments to 22
financial institutions. Payments must occur prior to distribution of 23
earnings set forth in subsection (4) of this section.24
(4)(a) Monthly, the state treasurer must distribute the earnings 25
credited to the investment income account to the state general fund 26
except under (b), (c), and (d) of this subsection.27
(b) The following accounts and funds must receive their 28
proportionate share of earnings based upon each account's or fund's 29
average daily balance for the period: The 24/7 sobriety account, the 30
Washington promise scholarship account, the Gina Grant Bull memorial 31
legislative page scholarship account, the Rosa Franklin legislative 32
internship program scholarship account, the Washington advanced 33
college tuition payment program account, the Washington college 34
savings program account, the accessible communities account, the 35
Washington achieving a better life experience program account, the 36
Washington career and college pathways innovation challenge program 37
account, the community and technical college innovation account, the 38
agricultural local fund, the American Indian scholarship endowment 39
p. 9 HB 2524
fund, the behavioral health loan repayment and scholarship program 1
account, the Billy Frank Jr. national statuary hall collection fund, 2
the foster care scholarship endowment fund, the foster care endowed 3
scholarship trust fund, the contract harvesting revolving account, 4
the Washington state combined fund drive account, the county 911 5
excise tax account, the county road administration board emergency 6
loan account, the toll collection account, the developmental 7
disabilities endowment trust fund, the energy account, the energy 8
facility site evaluation council account, the fair fund, the family 9
and medical leave insurance account, the Fern Lodge maintenance 10
account, the fish and wildlife federal lands revolving account, the 11
natural resources federal lands revolving account, the food animal 12
veterinarian conditional scholarship account, the forest health 13
revolving account, the fruit and vegetable inspection account, the 14
educator conditional scholarship account, the game farm alternative 15
account, the GET ready for math and science scholarship account, the 16
Washington global health technologies and product development 17
account, the grain inspection revolving fund, the Washington history 18
day account, the industrial insurance rainy day fund, the law 19
enforcement officers' and firefighters' plan 2 expense fund, the 20
local tourism promotion account, the low-income home rehabilitation 21
account, the medication for people living with HIV rebate revenue 22
account, the homeowner recovery account, the multiagency permitting 23
team account, the northeast Washington wolf-livestock management 24
account, the public use general aviation airport loan revolving 25
account, the regional transportation investment district account, the 26
rural rehabilitation account, the Washington sexual assault kit 27
account, the stadium and exhibition center account, the youth 28
athletic facility account, the self-insurance revolving fund, the 29
children's trust fund, the Washington horse racing commission 30
Washington bred owners' bonus fund and breeder awards account, the 31
Washington horse racing commission class C purse fund account, the 32
individual development account program account, the Washington horse 33
racing commission operating account, the life sciences discovery 34
fund, the Washington state library-archives building account, the 35
reduced cigarette ignition propensity account, the center for deaf 36
and hard of hearing youth account, the school for the blind account, 37
the public employees' and retirees' insurance reserve fund, the 38
school employees' benefits board insurance reserve fund, the public 39
employees' and retirees' insurance account, the school employees' 40
p. 10 HB 2524
insurance account, the state security guards industry standards board 1
account, the long-term services and supports trust account, the 2
radiation perpetual maintenance fund, the Indian health improvement 3
reinvestment account, the department of licensing tuition recovery 4
trust fund, the student achievement council tuition recovery trust 5
fund, the tuition recovery trust fund, the industrial insurance 6
premium refund account, the mobile home park relocation fund, the 7
natural resources deposit fund, the Washington state health insurance 8
pool account, the federal forest revolving account, the Washington 9
saves administrative trust account, and the library operations 10
account. 11
(c) The following accounts and funds must receive 80 percent of 12
their proportionate share of earnings based upon each account's or 13
fund's average daily balance for the period: The advance right-of-way 14
revolving fund, the advanced environmental mitigation revolving 15
account, the federal narcotics asset forfeitures account, the high 16
occupancy vehicle account, the local rail service assistance account, 17
and the miscellaneous transportation programs account.18
(d) Any state agency that has independent authority over accounts 19
or funds not statutorily required to be held in the custody of the 20
state treasurer that deposits funds into a fund or account in the 21
custody of the state treasurer pursuant to an agreement with the 22
office of the state treasurer shall receive its proportionate share 23
of earnings based upon each account's or fund's average daily balance 24
for the period. 25
(5) In conformance with Article II, section 37 of the state 26
Constitution, no trust accounts or funds shall be allocated earnings 27
without the specific affirmative directive of this section.28
NEW SECTION. Sec. 12. Sections 1 through 8 of this act 29
constitute a new chapter in Title 49 RCW.30
NEW SECTION. Sec. 13. Section 10 of this act expires July 1, 31
2030.32
NEW SECTION. Sec. 14. Section 11 of this act takes effect July 33
1, 2030.34
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