This bill amends existing law (RCW 39.19.120) to make a single state "office" the sole authority for certifying minority business enterprises, socially and economically disadvantaged business enterprises, and women's business enterprises throughout Washington. Certification by that office will allow certified firms to participate in applicable state, local, and certain public corporation programs. The bill establishes a rebuttable presumption that specified groups are "socially disadvantaged" for state certification purposes, listing women; persons who are Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, Native American, Asian, Pacific Islander, Native Hawaiian, or Middle Eastern/North African; and LGBTQ individuals, and it authorizes the office, by rule, to identify any other group as socially disadvantaged. This is a modification of existing law (an amendment to RCW 39.19.120, 1987 c 328 s 7) that centralizes certification authority, creates a statutory rebuttable presumption for certain groups (a definitional/legal change), and grants rulemaking authority to the office to add other groups. The text provided does not identify which specific "office" is meant, nor does it include certification procedures, the process for rebutting the presumption, or details of how the office will adopt rules, and those details are not available in the extracted material. The bill is identified as H-3195.1 / House Bill 2684, 69th Legislature, 2026 Regular Session, Section 1.

If enacted, one state office would become the only agency that can certify minority, socially and economically disadvantaged, and women-owned business enterprises for programs run by the state, local governments, and certain public corporations. Businesses that want to use those programs would need certification from that state office to participate, and the office would be able to add additional groups as socially disadvantaged by rule; the law also establishes a rebuttable presumption that women, a list of racial and ethnic groups, and LGBTQ people are socially disadvantaged. The groups most affected are businesses seeking these certifications and the unnamed state office that will carry out the work. Practically, certification routes and oversight would centralize at the state level, which likely shifts responsibility and administrative workload to that office and changes how businesses obtain eligibility for local and state programs. Key implementation details are missing here: the bill text in this chunk does not identify which office is meant, how the rebuttal process works, or the procedures the office will use to adopt rules.