The bill amends chapter 49.60 RCW (the Law Against Discrimination) to add "military spouse status" as a protected characteristic and to state expressly that military spouses have the right to obtain and hold employment without discrimination. It modifies existing civil rights language and definitions in RCW 49.60.010, .020, .030, and .040 and continues to authorize civil actions and remedies for unfair practices, including injunctive relief, actual damages, costs and attorneys' fees. The Washington state human rights commission is identified as the "commission" responsible under the chapter. The bill changes substantive nondiscrimination provisions. RCW 49.60.180 is amended to make it an unfair practice for employers to refuse to hire, discharge, bar from employment, or discriminate in compensation or other terms or conditions of employment on listed protected grounds that now include military spouse status, subject to bona fide occupational qualification and a disability exception where the disability prevents proper job performance; employers are not required to establish quotas based on sexual orientation; and sex-based segregation of restrooms or locker facilities may be allowed when the commission has found it appropriate. RCW 49.60.190 is amended to make similar discrimination by labor unions an unfair practice (text in the extract ends mid‑provision). RCW 49.60.200 is amended to make it an unfair practice for employment agencies to misclassify, refuse to refer, or otherwise discriminate and to bar discriminatory advertising, applications, or inquiries on the listed grounds, with an explicit exception permitting advertising in a foreign language. The bill adds or restates many definitions used across the chapter, including a definition of "military spouse status" (a person currently or previously married to a service member during that member's active duty), and definitions for terms such as "service animal," "service animal trainee," "dog guide," "disability" (partially quoted), "dwelling," "employer" (includes entities employing eight or more persons), and "race" (explicitly including protective hairstyles). The extract is incomplete in places: the disability/impairment definition is truncated, the labor union provision in RCW 49.60.190 ends mid‑sentence, and the full texts of some listed amendments (including portions of RCW 49.60.040, .180, .190, and .200) are not visible in the provided material. The bill was read for the first time on 01/16/25.

If enacted, the bill would give people married to service members new, enforceable protections against discrimination in hiring, firing, pay, job terms, union membership, and placement by employment agencies. That means military spouses would more likely be able to file complaints with the Washington State Human Rights Commission and pursue injunctive relief, damages, and attorneys’ fees if they believe they were denied work or treated differently because of their status. Employers, unions, and employment agencies would need to stop using job ads, applications, or referral practices that exclude or single out military spouses unless a narrow bona fide occupational qualification applies. Most affected are employers (generally those with eight or more employees under the bill’s employer definition), labor unions, and employment agencies; they will face new compliance duties, likely modest one-time costs to update policies and train staff, and increased legal risk and potential litigation costs if they fail to change practices. Religious or sectarian organizations not organized for private profit are excluded by the employer definition, and advertising in a foreign language remains permitted. The bill text provided is incomplete in places (some definitions and several amended sections are truncated), so precise application to certain situations and the full scope of remedies and exceptions cannot be confirmed from these extracts.