This bill amends RCW 41.08.050 to change which city, town, or municipal fire department employees are included in the classified civil service. For departments with fewer than six firefighters (including the chief), all full paid employees remain in the classified civil service. For departments with six or more firefighters (including the chief), the legislative body may exempt individuals appointed as fire chief after July 1, 1987. If the chief is not exempt, all full paid employees including the chief are in the classified civil service. If the chief is exempt, the classified civil service excludes the chief and a limited number of additional unclassified positions determined by department size: 6–10 personnel: 2 unclassified; 11–20: 3; 21–50: 4; 51–100: 5; 101–250: 6; 251–500: 8; 501 and over: 10. The only positions eligible to be designated unclassified are assistant chief, deputy chief, division chief, and administrative assistant or administrative secretary. The bill sets procedures for selecting and changing unclassified positions: the fire chief initially selects which specific eligible positions are unclassified and must notify the civil service commission; later changes require concurrence of the fire chief, the mayor or city administrator, and the civil service commission and may be made only after the civil service commission has heard the issue in an open meeting. If a position chosen to be unclassified is currently occupied and in the classified service, the occupying employee has a right to return to the next highest or a like position in the classified service. The amendment retains that appointments and promotions must be made solely on merit, efficiency, and fitness by open competitive examination and impartial investigation, and that no person may be reinstated, transferred, suspended, or discharged contrary to the chapter. The extracted text is limited to this amendment of RCW 41.08.050; statutory definitions for terms used (for example, "full paid employees," "legislative body," and "civil service commission") and any other bill provisions or cross-references are not included here and therefore are uncertain from the provided material.

If enacted, cities and towns with six or more paid firefighters would be able to exempt a fire chief appointed after July 1, 1987 from classified civil service and also designate a small, size-dependent number of senior or administrative positions (assistant, deputy, division chief, or administrative assistant/secretary) as unclassified. That change gives local officials more discretion to appoint or remove those senior roles without using open competitive civil service exams, while the rest of the department remains under merit-based hiring and promotion rules. The people most affected are municipal officials, fire chiefs, the listed senior staff roles, current employees occupying positions that might be reclassified, and local civil service commissions. Municipalities may see modest administrative costs and responsibilities for notifying commissions, conducting public hearings, and obtaining concurrence; employees moved out of classified slots can claim rights to return to the next-highest or similar classified position, which can create personnel reassignments and related HR costs. The text does not define terms like "full paid employees," "legislative body," or "civil service commission" here, nor does it show whether other parts of the bill address implementation details.