Senate Bill 5318, presented as an agency request bill, would require applicants for certain positions with the Department of Social and Health Services and the Department of Children, Youth and Families who have unsupervised access to vulnerable populations to submit fingerprint background checks through the Washington State Patrol and, in some cases, the FBI, Lisonbee Mendiola, committee staff, told the Senate Human Services Committee.

The staff briefing described the bill as a technical fix to conform state practice to federal FBI requirements for access to the FBI fingerprint background-check system. The FBI requires sufficiently specific statutory definitions to identify which classes of applicants must be fingerprinted. Staff said the existing statute (RCW 43.43.837 as discussed in the briefing) defines covered facilities rather than specific classes of employees, creating a compliance gap for some newly opened facilities such as the Lake Burien Transitional Care Facility.

Senator Claudia Kauffman, the prime sponsor, described the bill as a narrow technical amendment requested by the agency to clarify definitions and ensure DSHS and DCYF may access federal fingerprint services for positions that involve unsupervised access to vulnerable adults and youth. "This is really at the request, a state agency request. And it is a technical fix," Senator Kauffman said.

Agency representatives appeared at the hearing in person and by Zoom. Dr. Upkar Mankat, deputy assistant secretary for DDA, and Megan Desmet, DDA director of facilities, said the FBI raised concerns about overly broad statutory definitions and that without changes the FBI would not permit access to its fingerprint system. The witnesses said the bill's clarifications will bring Washington into compliance with federal requirements and help protect vulnerable populations by ensuring required background checks are possible for staff at specific facilities.

Staff and sponsors said no fiscal note or minimal costs are expected for the proposed technical changes. The committee asked clarifying questions about whether the change applied only to Lake Burien; agency staff confirmed the bill explicitly addresses Lake Burien but also clarifies definitions to cover similar facility types as needed.

The committee did not record a vote on SB 5318 at this hearing and closed the item after the agency briefing and sponsor remarks.