This bill amends an existing Washington statute, RCW 41.06.070, replacing that section to revise which positions are exempt from the state civil service chapter and to change procedures for exemptions, salary setting, and reversion rights. The revised text enumerates many exempt classes (legislative and judicial offices, certain executive officers and senior agency positions, many boards and commissions, institutions of higher education roles, commodity commissions, specified Department of Commerce and Washington State University energy and innovation staff, the executive director of the Washington statewide reentry council, and others). It expressly addresses officers and employees of Washington technology solutions created in RCW 43.105.006 and lists specific IT functions that qualify; the phrase "and network and systems security" is shown as deleted in that list. The bill was prefiled 01/05/26 and passed the House and Senate in early 2026. Legally, the change modifies existing law rather than creating a new crime or new penalties. It adds a procedural mechanism allowing "the director" to grant additional exemptions after a public hearing on requests submitted by the governor or other elected officials, with quantitative limits (not more than 1% of classified employees for certain agencies and not more than 25 for agencies under other elected officials), and specific caps for certain Commerce positions. It assigns salary and fringe benefit determination for most exempt positions to "the director" subject to RCW 41.06.152, establishes reversion rights for employees whose classified positions become exempt and for classified employees who accept exempt appointments, suspends reversion rights during an active workplace investigation when the employee has received written notice (which includes email to the work address), and requires the Office of Financial Management to adopt rules implementing that suspension. Reversion is excepted when the employee is terminated for gross misconduct or malfeasance. Important context is missing from the provided text: only Section 1 amending RCW 41.06.070 is included, so it is unclear whether the bill contains additional sections or related provisions. The deletion of "and network and systems security" contrasts with the bill title and creates uncertainty about the final intended scope for Washington technology solutions employees. The text repeatedly refers to "the director" without identifying the specific office or agency, and the document excerpt does not show a governor's signature, an effective date, or a completed filing/approval date.

If enacted, the bill would take a specific group of IT workers at Washington Technology Solutions — those doing systems integration, data center engineering and management, network systems engineering and management, IT contracting, and IT customer relations management — out of the state classified civil service and treat them as exempt positions. That means these employees would likely face different hiring, firing, and pay-setting rules: the director gains authority to set salaries and fringe benefits for most exempt roles, agencies can seek additional exemptions for senior IT experts within strict numerical limits, and employees who lose classified status would still generally have reversion rights but could lose them temporarily if they are under a written workplace investigation notice (including email). The Office of Financial Management must write rules to implement that investigation-related suspension, so OFM and agency HR will need to change procedures and hold public hearings when new exemptions are requested. The practical impacts fall mostly on Washington Technology Solutions staff in the listed roles, their supervisors, agency HR and budget offices, and classified employees who might accept or lose exempt appointments; these groups could see changes in job security, compensation decision-making, and appeals options. Costs and risks include potential shifts in pay and benefits set by the director rather than through classified processes, possible temporary loss of reversion protections during investigations, and administrative burdens from public hearings and OFM rulemaking. Key implementation details are unclear from this text: the deletion of the phrase referencing "network and systems security" creates uncertainty about whether security roles are included, the specific "director" referenced is not identified here, and no effective date or governor’s approval appears in the extracted material.