This bill amends RCW 42.52.180 to tighten and clarify prohibitions on state officers and employees using agency facilities to assist a campaign for election or to promote or oppose a ballot proposition. It restates that knowingly allowing such use by a person with authority is a violation, lists covered agency facilities (for example stationery, postage, equipment, use of state employees during work hours, vehicles, office space, publications, and clientele lists), and enumerates specific exceptions (including certain open public meeting actions, public statements by elected officials, maintenance of official legislative websites, normal and regular conduct of the office, de minimis use by statewide elected officials and legislators, activities with a legislative nexus under RCW 42.52.175, and display of previous campaign memorabilia in a legislative office). The amendment adds or clarifies definitions and procedural limits: “official legislative website” expressly includes a legislator’s official legislative social media accounts; “previous campaign memorabilia” is defined as certain historical or decorative campaign materials no longer active; official legislative websites shall not be used for campaign purposes; and official legislative websites that are not a legislator’s official site may not directly or indirectly reference a ballot measure or a legislator running for office during the specified period. It bars altering an official legislative website for a legislator who is a candidate (with limited exceptions for special sessions or changing contact information) from the first day of the declaration-of-candidacy filing period in RCW 29A.24.050 through certification of the general election by the secretary of state. The bill also directs the ethics boards to adopt by rule a definition of “measurable expenditure,” and states that, as to state officers and employees, this section operates to the exclusion of RCW 29B.45.010. This is a modification of existing law that imposes new procedural restrictions, definitions, and a rulemaking requirement; the text specifies violations but does not include penalties in the extracted material. Some contextual details are not included in the provided text: the exact filing-period dates and the statutory definition of “candidate” are referenced in other RCWs (RCW 29A.24.050 and RCW 29B.10.090) but are not reproduced here; the identity or statutory definition of the “ethics boards” is not specified; and the content or effect of RCW 29B.45.010 is not shown. The bill was prefiled 12/08/25, read first time 01/12/26, and referred to the Committee on State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections.

If enacted, state agencies and officials will have to stop using any state resources listed in the law—like stationery, postage, equipment, staff time during work hours, vehicles, office space, agency publications, and client lists—to help a campaign or promote or oppose ballot measures. Legislators who are candidates cannot change their official legislative websites or official social media accounts during the candidacy filing period through certification of the general election (with only narrow exceptions), and official legislative sites may not be used for campaign messages; supervisors who knowingly allow improper use can create violations. The state ethics boards must write a rule defining what counts as a "measurable expenditure," which will affect how enforcement and penalties are applied. The people most affected are state officers and employees, legislative offices and legislators running for office, statewide elected officials, and the ethics boards. Agencies and legislative offices will likely need to adopt new compliance steps, provide training, and separate campaign activity from official communications, which could raise modest administrative costs and increase exposure to ethics inquiries if rules are breached. It’s unclear from the text exactly when the filing window runs, which precise bodies are the "ethics boards," and how exclusion of RCW 29B.45.010 changes enforcement, so those specifics would need to be confirmed in the cited statutes.