Creates a new chapter in Title 43 RCW establishing statewide requirements for how state entities and entities that receive state funds must collect, analyze, and report demographic data for any study or report. The bill requires compliance with data disaggregation guidelines to be developed by the office of equity, and until those guidelines are published sets interim minimum standards: race and ethnicity data must follow U.S. OMB statistical policy directive number 15 (89 Fed. Reg. 22182 (2024)) and sex and gender identity data must follow WAC 246-455-025(6) as it existed on December 31, 2025. State entities must implement these minimum standards and insert them into procurement and grant documents by December 31, 2026. This is a procedural law change that creates new legal requirements for data standards and for contract/grant terms; it is not presented as creating a new crime or changing criminal penalties. State entities that contract with covered entities must include terms requiring covered entities to collect, analyze, and publish findings disaggregated by the specified race/ethnicity and sex/gender identity categories, with the precise contractual language to be negotiated. Before collecting, analyzing, or publishing demographic data or initiating relevant solicitations, state entities must jointly consult the office of equity, the office of privacy and data protection, the attorney general, and the Washington state institutional review board about safeguards such as geographic aggregation or withholding categories where low response rates could identify individuals. The bill defines covered entities, local government, the office (office of equity), personally identifiable information, and state entity, and names several state agencies likely affected (for example, DSHS, DOH, DCYF, OSPI, DOT, Commerce). It references RCW 43.06D.020 and 43.06D.040(1)(d)(i)(A), RCW 43.105.369, WAC 246-455-025(6), and OMB Directive 15. The extracted text does not include the actual office of equity guidelines, the text of WAC 246-455-025(6) as of Dec. 31, 2025, specific contract language to be required, any enforcement mechanisms, penalties, reporting pathways, or operational definitions for “sex” and “gender identity,” so applicability and some implementation details remain unclear.

If enacted, the bill will require state agencies and any city, county, local unit, or organization that receives state money to collect, analyze, and publish study or survey results broken out by race/ethnicity and by sex/gender using specific federal and state standards (OMB Directive 15 for race/ethnicity and WAC 246-455-025(6) as of December 31, 2025 for sex/gender) and to put matching terms into procurement and grant documents. Agencies named as likely most affected (for example, DSHS, DOH, DCYF, OSPI, DOT, and Commerce) will need to change how they plan and fund studies, update contracts and solicitations, and consult with the office of equity, the privacy office, the attorney general, and the state IRB about when to aggregate or suppress small groups to avoid identifying individuals; these changes must be in place by December 31, 2026. The practical effects will be more upfront work and likely added costs for updating data collection tools, training staff and contractors, negotiating new contract language, and conducting the required consultations; organizations receiving state funds will face the same responsibilities when they undertake studies for the state. Important details remain unclear here: the office of equity’s full guidance has not yet been published, the exact content of the WAC provision used as the interim standard is not provided, the specific contract language is left to negotiation, and the bill text excerpt does not establish enforcement or penalty mechanisms.