Committee advances ordinance to unify King County protected classes, add caregiver, military and immigration status

The Government Accountability and Oversight Committee voted 3-0 to send proposed ordinance 2025-0018, as amended, to the full King County Council with a recommendation after approving both a striking amendment and a title amendment. The ordinance would add status as a family caregiver and military status (including certain veteran protections) to the county code, incorporate citizenship and immigration status into the protected-classes definition, and create a single cross-referenceable definition of protected classes in King County Code chapter 3.12.d.

Why it matters: Advocates and county staff told the committee the changes would reduce inconsistencies between the county charter, state law and King County Code and help civil-rights investigators enforce protections consistently across programs such as housing, employment and county contracting.

Council policy staff Olivia Vrahi briefed the committee, saying the ordinance “would add two protected classes throughout the anti-discrimination related text in King County, including status as a family caregiver and military status.” Vrahi also described the striking amendment S1 as creating “a single definition for protected classes” and noted it would remove duplicative terms and add definitions where needed.

Council Member Jorge Barron, who helped shepherd the amendment, described the work as the culmination of constituent concerns and parallel efforts. “A resident of District 5 raised a concern … that the county charter included some protections for a person’s status as a veteran, but the online reporting form did not,” Barron said, outlining how the work expanded into a broader reconciliation of the county code, the charter and state law. Barron said staff did the bulk of the drafting and thanked Office of Equity and Social Justice staff and legal counsel for their assistance.

Deputy General Counsel Allison Holcomb told the committee the executive supports clarifying the code and flagged the need to ensure language encompasses federal agencies where relevant. Holcomb said, “taking the time now to clarify and strengthen this ordinance is fully supported by the executive.” Manisha Harrell of the executive’s staff also told the committee that consistent code language is “really, really helpful for all of our civil rights investigators.”

Key elements of the striking amendment include adding citizenship/immigration status (consistent with a 2020 state law change), adding ethnicity as an explicit class in some sections, and removing duplicative terms such as ancestry and creed where they overlap existing definitions. The amendment would create a new section in King County Code (chapter 3.12.d) that provides a uniform list and, in many cases, definitions of protected classes; other anti-discrimination provisions throughout the code would cross-reference it. Vrahi noted some provisions would retain section-specific protections (for example, protections related to participation in housing subsidy programs in K.C.C. 12.20).

The committee approved striking amendment S1 first, then a title amendment T1, and then voted to move the ordinance, as amended, to the full Council with recommendation. Chair Von Reichbauer called the roll for the final motion; Council Member Mosqueda and Council Member Perry voted aye alongside the chair. The committee asked that the item not be placed on the next meeting’s consent calendar so Council Member Barron could speak to the ordinance at the full Council meeting.

Discussion vs. decision: Committee members and staff discussed scope, cross-references, and the need for consistent definitions; the committee formally approved procedural amendments (S1 and T1) and forwarded the ordinance to the full Council with a recommendation. No final change to county code has taken effect; the full County Council will consider the ordinance next.

Background and procedure: The materials for the item were in the committee packet (staff report and matrices showing where protected classes appear across code chapters). The staff report noted a 2020 charter amendment approved by voters expanded protections in the charter and that state law in 2020 expanded protections for citizenship/immigration status. The striking amendment does not change the circumstances where protections apply (for example, it does not change enforcement mechanisms) but harmonizes the listing and definitions of classes across code chapters.

Next steps: The ordinance as amended is headed to the full County Council with a recommendation and — at the committee’s request — will be removed from consent to allow additional discussion at the Council meeting.