Creates a new Washington State law establishing the Washington state commission on Middle Eastern and North African Americans, placed in the governor’s office. The commission will have 12 governor-appointed members with staggered initial terms (four 3-year, four 2-year, four 1-year) and subsequent three-year terms, a quorum of seven, and an executive director appointed by the governor who must have demonstrated commitment to and understanding of Middle Eastern and North African American community needs. The commission must elect a chair and other officers every two years, meet at least quarterly, may appoint citizen task forces, employ staff as state employees under Title 41 RCW, be reimbursed for travel per RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060, adopt rules under chapter 34.05 RCW, solicit gifts and grants, advise the governor, state agencies and the legislature, coordinate community data collection and census education, and assist with cultural celebrations and agency consultations. Creates a new chapter in Title 43 RCW (sections 1–8) and amends RCW 1.16.050 to restate and list state legal holidays and related employee holiday provisions. It also requires employers to allow an employee to take two unpaid holidays for reasons of faith or conscience or for participation in organized religious activity, unless the absence would impose an undue hardship (to be defined by rule of the Office of Financial Management under RCW 43.41.109) or the employee is necessary to maintain public safety. The amendment clarifies which holiday (state or federal) is a paid legal holiday for state and certain local employees when the same holiday is observed on different dates, sets rules for weekend-observed holidays, and recognizes a list of commemorative days and April as Middle Eastern and North African American heritage month without making them legal holidays. No penalties are specified in the provided text. Important information is missing or incomplete in the extracted material: the new chapter number in Title 43 is not provided, the amendment to RCW 1.16.050 is cut off mid-subsection, and the bill text as provided omits potential details on funding, commissioner compensation beyond travel reimbursement, eligibility criteria for commission members, specific operational procedures, and implementation timelines.

The bill would create a permanent Washington state commission on Middle Eastern and North African Americans inside the governor’s office, requiring the governor to appoint 12 members and an executive director and to provide state employee staff. Practically, this means new, ongoing work for the governor’s office and for other state agencies, which must meet with and assist the commission at least once a year, support its data-collection and census outreach efforts, and help coordinate April heritage month activities and other community events. Those duties will generate administrative time and likely new costs for staffing, meetings, outreach, and rulemaking, though the text does not specify where funds will come from and the commission may seek gifts or grants to help cover expenses. For employers and workers, the bill adds a right for employees to take two unpaid days off for reasons of faith or conscience or to participate in organized religious activities unless doing so would impose an “undue hardship” (to be defined by the Office of Financial Management) or the employee is needed for public safety; that could create scheduling and coverage pressures for some employers but does not require paid leave. The bill also names an April Middle Eastern and North African American heritage month and several commemorative days, which are ceremonial and not automatically paid legal holidays. Key practical gaps remain: the measure does not specify a funding source for the commission, the new chapter number in state law, or detailed timelines and procedures for the commission’s planned data work.