The legislature finds that the population of Washington state has become increasingly diverse over the last several decades. The legislature also finds that as the demographics of our state change, historically and currently marginalized communities still do not have the same opportunities to meet parity as their nonmarginalized counterparts across nearly every measure including education, poverty, employment, health, and more. Inequities based on race, ethnicity, gender, and other characteristics continue to be deep, pervasive, and persistent, and they come at a great economic and social cost. When individuals face barriers to achieving their full potential, the impact is felt by the individual, their communities, businesses, governments, and the economy as a whole in the form of lost wages, avoidable public expenditures, and more. This includes social ramifications that emerging technology, such as artificial intelligence and facial recognition technology, may have on historically and currently marginalized communities. It is the intent of the legislature to review these emerging technologies either already in use by agencies or before their launch by agencies if not already in use and make recommendations regarding agency use to ensure that the technology is used in a manner that benefits society and does not have disparate negative impacts on historically and currently marginalized communities or violate their civil rights. It is further intended that the office should collaborate with other state efforts in this regard.

The legislature finds that a more inclusive Washington is possible if agencies identify and implement effective strategies to eliminate systemic inequities. The legislature recognizes that different forms of discrimination and oppression are related to each other, and these relationships need to be taken into account.

The legislature finds that over the years, significant strides have been made within agencies to address the disparate outcomes faced by historically and currently marginalized communities. While these efforts have yielded positive work, the legislature finds that the work happening in agencies is fragmented across state government. Additionally, smaller agencies may not have the resources necessary to identify and implement policies to address systemic inequities. Furthermore, the legislature finds that the commission on African American affairs, the commission on Asian Pacific American affairs, the commission on Hispanic affairs, the governor’s office of Indian affairs, the LGBTQ commission, the women’s commission, and the human rights commission each play an important and integral role by serving as a voice for their respective communities and linking state government to these communities. The office is distinct from the commissions because it will serve as the state’s subject matter expert on diversity, equity, and inclusion to state agencies and will provide technical assistance and support to agencies while each agency implements its individual equity plan. The office is not duplicative of the commissions, rather it is the intent of the legislature that the office will work in collaboration with the commissions. It is not the legislature’s intent to eliminate the commissions or to reduce funding to the commissions by creating the office. Instead, it is the intent of the legislature that the office and the commissions shall work in a complementary manner with each other, support each other’s work, jurisdictions, and missions, and adequately fund the commissions and the office as they take on their new complementary roles.

The legislature finds that state government must identify and coordinate effective strategies that focus on eliminating systemic barriers for historically and currently marginalized groups. To support this objective, an office of equity will provide a unified vision around equity for all state agencies. The office will assist government agencies to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in all aspects of their decision making, including but not limited to services, programming, policy development, budgeting, and staffing. Doing so will foster a culture of accountability within state government that promotes opportunity for marginalized communities and will help normalize language and concepts around diversity, equity, and inclusion.