This bill adds a new section to chapter 46.08 RCW that authorizes the (unnamed) department to issue confidential drivers' licenses and identicards to investigators employed by the office of the attorney general. Those confidential credentials may be issued only for undercover or covert civil or criminal law enforcement activities, must display an expiration date that complies with the department's rules, and may be used only while the investigator is assigned to the undercover or covert operation. The director is given rulemaking authority over applications for, and the use of, confidential license plates, drivers' licenses, and identicards. This is a creation of new statutory authority and accompanying rulemaking authority (a procedural change), not a change to criminal penalties or the creation of a new crime. The provisions identify the office of the attorney general, the department, and the director as the affected entities. The bill is identified as House Bill 2096, 69th Legislature, 2026 Regular Session (Z-0488.1), prefiled 12/03/25 and read for the first time 01/12/26. Several details are not provided in the extracted text: the department and director are not named, the exact RCW section number being added is not given, and the bill excerpt does not include procedural specifics such as the application process, eligibility verification, oversight, recordkeeping, or enforcement. The text also references confidential license plates in rulemaking authority but does not describe their issuance or use in the provided facts.

If enacted, investigators who work for the office of the attorney general would be able to receive special confidential drivers' licenses and identicards to use during undercover or covert civil or criminal investigations; each card would need an expiration date set by the issuing department and could only be used while the investigator is assigned to the operation. The department (and its director) would gain authority and responsibility to create rules and to process applications and the use of these confidential credentials, and the bill also references confidential license plates without describing how those would work. The groups most affected are the attorney general's investigators, who would gain an option to use officially issued confidential IDs during assignments, and the unnamed issuing department, which would take on new rulemaking and administrative duties and likely some additional workload or costs to implement the program. Important details are missing from the provided text — the bill does not name the issuing department or director, does not set out application, oversight, recordkeeping, or eligibility procedures, and does not specify funding, so practical effects beyond the basic authorities granted are uncertain.