The bill reenacts and amends RCW 1.16.050 to update Washington’s statutory list of legal holidays and recognized days, and specifically adds Diwali and Bandi Chhor Divas to the legislature’s list of recognized (non-legal-holiday) days. The section restates the enumerated state legal holidays and the rules for when those holidays are observed if they fall on a weekend. The amendment also sets or clarifies employee leave rules: most state and political subdivision employees (with specified exceptions) are entitled to one additional paid holiday per calendar year, and all state and political subdivision employees (including school districts and certain nonclassified higher education employees) are entitled to two unpaid holidays per calendar year for reasons of faith or conscience or organized religious activities. Selection of the paid and unpaid days must follow consultation with the employer and guidelines promulgated by the appropriate personnel authority or by local ordinance or resolution. Employers must permit the two unpaid faith or conscience days unless doing so would create an undue hardship or the employee is necessary to maintain public safety; the bill references that “undue hardship” will be defined by rule under RCW 43.41.109. The law also specifies weekend observance rules and that when state and federal holidays fall on different dates, only the state date is a paid legal holiday for state and political subdivision employees, while port districts and certain municipal law enforcement and public transit employees may recognize either the federal or state holiday but not both. Affected parties named in the text include state and political subdivision employees, school districts, public institutions of higher education and certain nonclassified higher education employees, port districts, and municipal law enforcement and public transit employees, and the appropriate personnel authorities and the Office of Financial Management for rulemaking. The extracted text does not show any other sections, effective date, fiscal notes, or additional implementation provisions, so those items are uncertain from the provided material.

If enacted, Diwali and Bandi Chhor Divas would be officially listed as state-recognized days, meaning state and local government employees (including school district staff, certain higher education employees, and workers at public institutions) could treat those days as ones they can observe under existing leave rules: they could use their one additional paid holiday of the year for them or take them as one of two unpaid holidays for reasons of faith or conscience. Employers would need to allow those unpaid absences unless doing so creates an "undue hardship" (a definition the Office of Financial Management must set by rule) or the employee is required for public safety, and personnel authorities or local governments may need to update guidance or ordinances about how employees select those days. The direct fiscal effect is likely small because the days are "recognized" rather than new paid legal holidays and the paid/unpaid leave entitlements already exist in statute, but agencies will have to adjust scheduling and personnel rules and may face operational pressures in staffing-critical roles. The bill text here does not show effective dates, fiscal notes, or the full definition of "undue hardship," so some implementation details and potential costs remain unclear.