Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 6087 amends RCW 70.200.010 and 70.200.020 to limit civil and criminal liability for donors and distributing organizations that provide donated children's items, except where gross negligence or intentional misconduct is shown. It also adds procedural requirements for organizations that accept and distribute car seats: they must ask about the car seat's history, attach a disclosure stating the organization is not aware of the car seat's history and cannot guarantee its safety, confirm the seat is not expired and is not the subject of a safety recall, and must not distribute expired or recalled car seats. The bill defines "distributing organization" as a charitable nonprofit under 26 U.S.C. §501(c), or a public health agency acting on behalf of or in conjunction with such a nonprofit or a religious organization, when distributing children's items; a public health agency is not a distributing organization under this chapter when performing other Title 70 RCW functions. "Donor" includes persons, corporations, associations, religious organizations, or other organizations that donate children's items, repair or update donated items to current standards, or donate space used for storage or distribution. "Children's items" is defined to include items such as clothes, diapers, food, formula, cribs, playpens, strollers, car seats and restraints, toys, high chairs, and books. The bill applies to charitable nonprofits meeting the 26 U.S.C. §501(c) criteria, public health agencies only when acting with those nonprofits or religious organizations, religious organizations involved in donation or distribution, donors as defined, and entities that accept and distribute car seats. The text supplied includes legislative reading and passage dates but does not state an effective date, any enforcement mechanisms or penalty provisions beyond the car seat distribution requirements, or the Secretary of State filing date. It is unclear from these excerpts whether additional provisions appear elsewhere in the full bill or session laws.

If enacted, the law would make people and nonprofit groups who donate or distribute children’s items less likely to face lawsuits or criminal charges over those items unless they act with gross negligence or intentional misconduct. At the same time, groups that accept and give out car seats would have to add basic safety steps: ask about the seat’s history, attach a notice saying the seat’s past is unknown and safety isn’t guaranteed, and check that the seat isn’t expired or recalled and refuse any expired or recalled seats. The biggest real-world effects will land on 501(c) nonprofits, religious groups, and public health agencies acting with those nonprofits, plus individual and organizational donors. They may feel safer donating and receiving items because legal risk is reduced, but organizations handling car seats will face new routine tasks—short screening conversations, attaching disclosures, and doing expiry/recall checks—which could mean a little extra staff time, minor supply costs for notices, and possibly fewer usable donated car seats. The bill text provided does not show an effective date or how the rules would be enforced, so timing and compliance oversight are unclear.