The bill creates a temporary Washington state flag redesign committee and new statutory sections to oversee designing and adopting a proposed new state flag. The committee must solicit public submissions and feedback (including outreach to schools, community organizations, tribes, public forums, virtual discussions, and online surveys), select no more than five designs for a final round, and unanimously adopt one design by July 1, 2028, to be submitted to voters under RCW 1.20.010(3). The committee must file a report with the governor and legislature by August 1, 2028, in compliance with RCW 43.01.036 that includes the new design, a revised flag description to replace RCW 1.20.010, an explanation of symbols and meanings, and recommended next steps and any legislation needed to place the design on the ballot. The new statutory sections expire January 1, 2029. The bill amends RCW 1.20.010 to retain the existing text describing the current official flag (dark green silk or bunting bearing the state seal), to authorize the secretary of state to provide flags to units of the armed forces without charge and to sell flags to citizens, and to reiterate that the official flag may not be redesigned except by a voter referendum offering the proposed design or retention of the current design. The Washington State Arts Commission provides administrative support, the commission director (or designee) chairs the committee, and the statute specifies appointment authorities for other members (including legislative appointees, a secretary of state member, a historian from the state historical society, four tribal representatives appointed by affiliated tribes of northwest Indians, and four citizen appointees by the governor); the committee may also contract vexillologists and other technical or artistic consultants. This is a procedural and administrative change establishing a new committee and temporary statutory authority, and it amends existing law governing the flag and referendum process; it does not create criminal penalties. The extracted text omits the full text of the cited RCW provisions, does not define the term “affiliated tribes of northwest Indians,” and does not specify which calendar date constitutes the “next general election,” so those procedural details are unclear from the provided material.

If enacted, the bill creates a temporary statewide committee to run a public competition and outreach process to pick a single new Washington state flag design by July 1, 2028, requires unanimous committee approval to send that design to voters, and directs the arts commission to provide administrative support and to hire outside designers or vexillology experts as needed. In practical terms this will put new workload and likely contracting and outreach expenses on the Washington State Arts Commission and create appointment and meeting duties for the named officials and tribal and citizen appointees; the bill does not specify new funding, so those costs would need to be absorbed by existing agency budgets or future appropriations. The secretary of state would be authorized to provide state flags to military units at no charge and to sell flags to citizens, which could shift some production/distribution costs and create modest revenue or expense changes for that office. Important implementation details are missing from the provided text — for example the bill references other RCWs for ballot and reporting procedures, does not define how tribal appointments are made, and does not specify funding sources or the exact general election date for the voter referendum.