This bill reenacts and amends RCW 42.56.230, the public records exemption statute, by listing categories of personal information that are exempt from public inspection and copying and by adding a new exemption. The new exemption (numbered (14) in the amended section) protects the email addresses of individuals who submit their information to a local agency for the purpose of subscribing to regular communications and updates from the agency (examples given include agency newsletters or similar publications). This is a change to public records law that creates a new confidentiality exemption; it is not presented as a criminal or penalty change. The text identifies a range of affected agencies and programs by reference to the exemption list, including local agencies generally, the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (child care files), local education agencies (student records), the Department of Licensing (driver and vehicle records and a duty to provide certain reports to the legislature upon request), the Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals and the Department of Labor and Industries (sharing final claim resolution settlement agreements), state lottery and contracted vendors (player information), 911 and emergency notification systems, and entities involved in gambling self-exclusion programs, among other categories. The bill also specifies that emergency contact information exempted under subsection (2) may be provided to appropriate authorities and medical personnel to treat the individual during an emergency. The bill was read for the first time on 01/31/25. The extracted text contains only Section 1 amending RCW 42.56.230 and does not include an effective date, formal definitions for terms used in the new exemption (for example, "local agency" or "regular communications and updates"), or any other sections that may exist. Several other statutes are cited and cross-referenced, and the full legal effect would require consulting those provisions.

If enacted, people who subscribe to newsletters or routine updates from local governments will likely have their email addresses withheld from public disclosure, so those subscription lists will generally not be obtainable through public records requests. Local agencies will need to treat those subscriber email addresses as private when responding to requests, which will reduce the risk subscribers face from unwanted contact or exposure and will limit what journalists or members of the public can obtain about who receives agency communications. The bill also reinforces a few agency-to-agency and reporting duties: the Department of Licensing must provide specified public disclosure information to the Legislature on request, and the Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals must supply copies of final claim resolution settlement agreements to the Department of Labor and Industries. The text leaves key terms undefined—such as what counts as a "local agency" or "regular communications and updates"—and it does not state an effective date, so exactly which subscriptions and agencies are covered and when the change would take effect are unclear.