This bill amends RCW 43.60A.080 to create a seventeen-member Veterans Affairs Advisory Committee that serves in an advisory capacity to the governor and the director of the Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs. Membership rules are established: two representatives from state veterans' homes identified in RCW 43.60A.075, three representatives from the three largest congressionally chartered or nationally recognized veterans service organizations (VSOs) by active membership as identified in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs directory, six additional VSO representatives from eligible organizations with chapters in Washington, and six veterans at large. The governor appoints members, the department director forwards nominations (including up to three names from homes’ resident councils and from state commanders of the largest VSOs), no organization may have more than one official representative at a time, and appointment considerations must include geographic representation, minority viewpoints, varied military experience, personal attributes, and women veterans’ concerns. The committee must appoint liaisons to each state veterans’ home (unless the home has its own representative on the committee); those liaisons must share committee meeting information with homes’ resident councils and bring resident issues back to the committee so they are considered at regular meetings. The committee is empowered to adopt rules of business, to acquaint itself with Department operations, and to recommend changes to the governor and director. Members serve four-year terms, may not serve more than two consecutive full terms (vacancy appointments count only for the remainder of the term), receive no compensation but are entitled to per diem and mileage under chapter 43.03 RCW. The change is a procedural and organizational legal change establishing a new advisory body and setting appointment, nomination, and meeting procedures; it does not create new crimes or change penalties. Affected entities include the Department of Veterans Affairs, the governor’s office, state veterans’ homes and their resident councils, and recognized VSOs. The text provided does not list the specific homes named in RCW 43.60A.075, does not show the prior version of the statute, and does not include an effective date or resolve an apparent session date inconsistency.

If enacted, the state will create a 17-member veterans affairs advisory committee that formalizes regular input from state veterans' homes, major veterans service organizations, and at-large veterans into the governor’s and Department of Veterans Affairs’ decision-making. Residents of veterans' homes and their councils will have a clearer channel to raise issues through appointed liaisons, and VSOs gain structured nomination and representation rules; the department and governor’s office will need to manage nominations, appointments, and the committee’s ongoing communications and meeting work. Committee members serve four-year terms (no pay but eligible for per diem and mileage), so the state will incur recurring travel and per-diem expenses and some administrative workload to support meetings and liaison activities. Who is most affected: the Department of Veterans Affairs and the governor’s office (increased advisory input and administrative duties), state veterans’ homes and their resident councils (more formal advocacy and information flow), veterans service organizations (new nomination processes and representation limits), and the veterans who serve on the committee (time commitments, limited compensation). Key details that remain unclear from the text provided are the specific list of state veterans' homes referenced, the effective date of the change, and the exact budget impact since per-diem rates and any staff support are not specified.