This bill reenacts and amends RCW 42.56.230 to specify categories of personal information that are exempt from public inspection and copying under the public records law. The listed exemptions cover a range of personal data including student and school records, patient and client records, welfare and child care records, employee and appointee files, taxpayer and tax collection information, financial account and payment card data, government-issued identifiers and license or registration records, emergency communications and notification system data, voter-related information, gambling self-exclusion records, a buy-back program participant list, state lottery player information, and other enumerated personal data categories. The measure makes several procedural changes: it requires the Department of Licensing to provide to the legislature, upon request, specified information that is subject to public disclosure; it requires the Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals to provide copies of all final claim resolution settlement agreements to the Department of Labor and Industries; and it authorizes emergency contact information covered by certain child-related exemptions to be disclosed to appropriate authorities and medical personnel for treatment during an emergency. The bill also defines “government-issued identifier” for purposes of one exemption to include items such as Social Security numbers, passport numbers, driver’s license numbers, student numbers, vehicle license plate numbers, and application numbers. Legally, this is an amendment and reenactment of an existing public records statute (a procedural change to disclosure law), not the creation of a new crime or an alteration of criminal penalties. The act includes a funding contingency: it is null and void if specific funding referencing the act is not provided in the omnibus appropriations act by June 30, 2026. The text provided does not show how these changes differ from prior versions of the statute, does not specify any other effective date, and does not include legislative history, fiscal notes, or implementation detail beyond the reporting and transfer requirements described.

If enacted, the bill requires many state agencies that hold personal records—like child care and children’s services, public schools, public health providers, licensing, tax authorities, labor and industries, the state lottery, and gambling self‑exclusion programs—to withhold a long list of specific personal information from public inspection and copying. Agencies will still have to make limited disclosures in narrow situations (for example, emergency contact information for medical care in certain child emergencies), and the Department of Licensing must produce certain publicly disclosable information to the legislature on request while the Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals must send final claim settlement agreements to the Department of Labor and Industries. The practical result is that those agencies will have clearer, broader duties to redact or deny access to specific categories of personal data, which is likely to increase routine administrative work and create modest reporting or document‑transfer obligations for Licensing, the Board, and Labor and Industries. The bill only takes effect if the legislature includes specific funding for it in the omnibus appropriations by June 30, 2026, so its implementation and fiscal impacts are uncertain, and the text does not specify an effective date or how it changes prior practice beyond the listed duties.