Passed by the House February 8, 2024 Yeas 96 Nays 1 Speaker of the House of Representatives Passed by the Senate February 28, 2024 Yeas 49 Nays 0 President of the Senate	CERTIFICATE I, Bernard Dean, Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives of the State of Washington, do hereby certify that the attached is SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 2216 as passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate on the dates hereon set forth. Chief Clerk Chief Clerk
Approved	FILED
	Secretary of State State of Washington

ByHouse State Government & Tribal Relations (originally sponsored by Representatives Cheney, Leavitt, Walen, Santos, Couture, Graham, Reed, Rude, and Davis)

AN ACT Relating to reducing barriers to state employment by eliminating two-year and four-year degree requirements that are unnecessary; amending RCW 41.06.157; and creating a new section.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. It is the intent of the legislature to reduce the number of positions in state employment that unnecessarily have requirements of completing a two-year or four-year college degree as the only way to meet the qualifications of a job. While the legislature recognizes that certain positions have a need for technical, scientific, or professional training that make a specialized course of study necessary, in other cases the requirement of a two-year or four-year college degree is added to job requirements as an indicator of general skills or knowledge, such as skills in writing, analysis, or presentations which are readily acquired in today's society through other means.

(1) To promote the most effective use of the state's workforce and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the delivery of services to the citizens of the state, the director shall adopt and maintain a comprehensive classification plan for all positions in the classified service. The classification plan must:

(g) Not require a two-year or four-year college degree as the only way to demonstrate qualifications for the role unless that degree is required by law for an employee to perform the essential functions of a classification.

(2) An appointing authority and an employee organization representing classified employees of the appointing authority for collective bargaining purposes may jointly request the director of financial management to initiate a classification study.

(3) For institutions of higher education and related boards, the director may adopt special salary ranges to be competitive with positions of a similar nature in the state or the locality in which the institution of higher education or related board is located.

(4) The director may undertake salary surveys of positions in other public and private employment to establish market rates. Any salary survey information collected from private employers which identifies a specific employer with salary rates which the employer pays to its employees shall not be subject to public disclosure under chapter 42.56 RCW.