• Proclamation 20-25.16 (September 3, 2021) – Amends previous proclamation to prohibit local governments and landlords from preventing or prohibiting any person, business, entity, or tenant from imposing face mask requirements or requiring proof of vaccination; also prohibits taking or threatening to take any adverse action against individuals or entities that impose such requirements. Adverse actions include, but are not limited to, denying, suspending, withholding, or terminating a contract, patronage, funding, or benefits, declining to rent or lease property, increasing rental rates, and eviction.
• Proclamation 20-25.15 (August 20, 2021) – Incorporates new indoor masking requirements into the "Washington Ready" plan and summarizes current requirements for customers, employees, and employers. Local entities and employers may voluntarily impose stricter requirements.
• Proclamation 20-25.14 (July 1, 2021) – Summarizes the current facial covering and public health requirements for employers, employees, businesses, and customers, and reiterating that local entities and employers may voluntarily impose stricter requirements (and may not be penalized for doing so). Renames the proclamation “Washington Ready” from “Healthy Washington – Roadmap to Recovery.” If statewide infections or deaths begin to rise again and reach a statewide hospital Intensive Care Unit capacity of 90% or greater, restrictions may again be reinstated.
• Proclamation 20-25.13 (May 21, 2021) – Incorporated the new face mask guidance for fully vaccinated people into the state's reopening plan. Fully vaccinated people are not required to wear face masks indoors or outdoors, except for in "CDC exempted locations" (healthcare settings, correctional facilities, homeless shelters, schools, and public transportation). The state will no longer require fully vaccinated workers to wear face masks on the jobsite (except for CDC exempted locations), so long as the employee provides proof of vaccination or a signed attestation form to their employer.
• Proclamation 20-25.12 (January 11, 2021) – Adopts new regional "Health Washington - Roadmap to Recovery" Plan; effective for duration of emergency unless further amended. The regional plan was replaced by a county-by-county approach in March 2021; see the state's reopening plans below.
• Proclamation 20-25.11 (December 30, 2020) – Extends restrictions through January 11
• Proclamation 20-25.10 (December 21, 2020) – Updated guidance for worship, weddings, and funerals, but no changes directly impacting local governments; restrictions still in effect through January 4
• Proclamation 20-25.9 (December 10, 2020) – Extending statewide restrictions through January 4 with very minor modifications
• Proclamation 20-25.8 (November 15, 2020) – Significantly restricting in-person social and business activities through December 14
• Proclamation 20-25.7 (July 24, 2020) – Extends  "Safe Start, Stay Healthy" order until the governor terminates the state of emergency, or until the proclamation is amended or rescinded. Incorporates updated facial covering guidance from Order 20-03.1.
• Proclamation 20-25.6 (July 7, 2020) – Extends order through August 6; extends and clarifies the facial covering provisions; and requires employers to report suspected COVID-19 outbreaks in the workplace within 24 hours. Also see supplemental memorandum limiting gatherings to 10 people in Phase 3, effective July 20.
• Proclamation 20-25.5 (July 1, 2020) – Extends order through July 9, provides clarifications, and adds new requirements for employers to cooperate with public health authorities in the COVID-19 prevention and case investigation.
• Proclamation 20-25.4 (May 31, 2020) – Extends order through July 1 and transitions to county-by-county phased re-opening plan entitled "Safe Start, Stay Healthy." Effective June 8, all employees must wear a facial covering except when working alone or when the job has no in-person interaction, and employers must provide cloth facial coverings to employees (unless their exposure dictates a higher level of protection).
• ​Proclamation 20-25.3 (May 4, 2020) – Extending order through May 31 and making adjustments for certain low-risk businesses; allows certain counties to apply for variance to allow additional businesses to re-open
• Proclamation 20-25.2 (April 27, 2020) – Opening certain outdoor activities on May 5
• Proclamation 20-25.1 (April 2, 2020) – Extending order through May 4
• Proclamation 20-25 (March 23, 2020) – Initial "Stay Home, Stay Healthy" order
  • Initial list of essential industries and employees (March 23, 2020)
  • Supplemental construction guidance memorandum (March 25, 2020)
  • Guidance bulletin listing additional essential services in alphabetical order (March 31, 2020)

• Proclamation 21-14.1 (August 20, 2021) – Clarifies and expands the vaccine requirements. Requires employees in healthcare and childcare settings, including some local government employees, to be fully vaccinated (two weeks past final vaccination) by October 18; also applies to private long-term care and healthcare workers, school and university employees, and most state employees. Makes additional changes such as clarifications regarding vaccination of contractors. Exemptions will be made for individuals with legitimate medical reasons or sincerely held religious reasons, but there will be no opt-out option for employees to take regular COVID tests in lieu of vaccinations.
• Proclamation 21-14 (August 9, 2021) – Requires healthcare workers, including some local government employees, to be fully vaccinated (two weeks past final vaccination) by October 18; also applies to long-term care workers and most state employees. Exemptions will be made for individuals with legitimate medical reasons or sincerely held religious reasons, but there will be no opt-out option for employees to take regular COVID tests in lieu of vaccinations. Also see vaccine mandate FAQs and Department of Health FAQ guidance for health care providers, workers, and settings. The governor has encouraged local governments to implement similar vaccination requirements for their employees.

• Order of the Secretary of Health 20-03.5 (September 13, 2021) – Updates previous facial covering order to require everyone to wear facial coverings at outdoor events or gatherings attended by 500 or more people, regardless of vaccination status.
• Order of the Secretary of Health 20-03.4 (August 19, 2021) – Requires all individuals five and older to wear facial coverings indoors beginning August 23, regardless of vaccination status. Exemptions include working alone indoors, as well as fully vaccinated individuals when working in areas not generally accessible to the public and when no non-employees are present. Also see separate CDC order regarding public transportation.
• Order of the Secretary of Health 20-03.3 (June 29, 2021) – Social distancing no longer required for unmasked individuals outdoors, although masks are encouraged for unvaccinated individuals in crowded outdoor settings. Mask requirements have also been eased for many indoor and outdoor sporting activities. Masks still required for all individuals in healthcare settings, correctional facilities, homeless shelters, and schools; also see separate CDC order regarding public transportation.
• Order of the Secretary of Health 20-03.2 (May 15, 2021) – Updated the statewide facial covering requirements to match current CDC guidance, including an exemption in many instances for people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 (except for in healthcare settings, correctional facilities, homeless shelters, and schools; also see separate CDC order regarding public transportation).
• Order of the Secretary of Health 20-03.1 (July 24, 2020) – Expanded the statewide facial covering requirement effective July 25, 2020 to require all people to wear a facial covering that covers their nose and mouth when they are outside their "dwelling unit," subject to specific exceptions. Incorporated into Proclamation 20-25.5 et seq.; remains in effect until the governor terminates the state of emergency or until rescinded or superseded by a subsequent order of the Secretary of Health.
• Order of the Secretary of Health 20-03 (June 24, 2020) – Statewide order required people to wear face coverings inside any building that is open to the public, in healthcare settings, in transit and for-hire vehicle settings, and in outdoor public areas when a distance of at least six feet cannot be maintained from non-household members. Order effective June 26.
• Proclamation 20-60 (June 24, 2020) – Imposed stricter facial covering requirements for Yakima County only, effective June 26, which were soon expanded statewide. Order was officially rescinded August 20, 2021 by Proclamation 20-25.15.

• Proclamation 20-46.3 (April 8, 2021) – Continues protections for high-risk workers for the duration of the emergency, but employers are no longer prohibited from requiring medical verification. Employers may commence this process on April 9 but may not require this information until April 23. In addition, employers are no longer required to fully maintain employer-related health insurance benefits unless the employee is otherwise eligible under the Family and Medical Leave Act, a collective bargaining agreement, or another agreement. Employers must provide written notice of any changes to a high-risk employee’s accommodation at least 14 calendar days in advance. Also see the governor’s FAQs for Proclamation 20-46.3. (The governor’s previous memorandum attached to Proclamation 20-46.2 is rescinded effective April 23, 2021.)
• Proclamation 20-46.2 (July 29, 2020) – Extending employment protections for high-risk workers for the duration of the statewide emergency, or until the proclamation is amended or rescinded. Includes memorandum clarifying the scope of the order and when an employer may require an employee to submit verification from a medical provider. (Memorandum was rescinded effective April 23, 2021 by Proclamation 20-46.3.)
• Proclamation 20-46.1 (June 9, 2020) – Extending employment protections for high-risk workers through August 1.
• Proclamation 20-46 (April 13, 2020) – Providing employment protections to high-risk public and private employees through June 12. Addresses alternative work arrangements, leave options, health insurance protections, and other issues. Also prohibits employers from applying or enforcing any employment contract provisions that contradict or interfere with these provisions.

• Proclamation 20-28.14 (December 8, 2020) and State Legislature December 7 Extension Letter – Extended OPMA provisions through 11:59 PM on January 19; agencies may optionally hold an in-person meeting component if it complies with the governor's requirements and the guidelines for "business meetings" in the "Miscellaneous Venues" guidance document (which were prohibited at the time this proclamation was issued). Please note that the Miscellaneous Venues guidance document linked from Proclamation 20-28.14 is now outdated; make sure you are using the most recent Miscellaneous Venues guidance.
• Proclamation 20-28.13 (November 12, 2020) – Exempted local election canvassing boards from the OPMA prohibitions for operations related to the 2020 general election.
• Proclamation 20-28.12 (November 10, 2020) and State Legislature November 9 Extension Letter – Extended existing OPMA provisions through December 7, with no substantive changes.
• Proclamation 20-28.11 (October 2, 2020) and State Legislature October 1 Extension Letter – Extended existing OPMA provisions through November 9, with the exception of the wildfire provisions in Proclamation 20-28.10 which expired.
• Proclamation 20-28.10 (September 16, 2020) – Limited exception to the general ban on in-person meetings for jurisdictions that are unable to convene remote meetings because wildfires have significantly degraded telecommunications. Expired 11:59 PM on October 1 or when telecommunications were sufficiently restored, whichever occurred sooner.
• Proclamation 20-28.9 (September 2, 2020) and State Legislature August 31 Extension Letter – Extended existing OPMA provisions through October 1.
• Proclamation 20-28.8 (July 31, 2020) and State Legislature July 30 Extension Letter – Extended existing OPMA provisions through September 1.
• Proclamation 20-28.7 (July 8, 2020) and State Legislature July 7 Extension Letter – Extended OPMA provisions through August 1. The Governor’s office said in a press release that Proclamation 20-28.7 still authorized public agencies holding public meetings in counties currently in Phase 3 to, optionally and in addition to hosting the meeting remotely, include an in-person component to a public meeting. Also see supplemental memorandum reducing maximum gathering and meeting size from 50 people to 10 people in Phase 3, effective July 20.
• Proclamation 20-28.6 (July 2, 2020) and State Legislature July 1 Extension Letter – Extended OPMA provisions through July 7; allowed limited in-person meeting components for jurisdictions in Phase 3.
• Proclamation 20-28.5 (June 18, 2020) and State Legislature June 17 Extension Letter – Extended OPMA provisions through July 1.
• Proclamation 20-28.4 (May 29, 2020) and State Legislature May 29 Extension Letter – Extended OPMA provisions through June 17; removed restriction on what "action" a governing body may take at a meeting.
• Proclamation 20-28.3 only impacted the 5-day response period for public records and had no effect on OPMA
• Proclamation 20-28.2 (May 5, 2020) and State Legislature May 4 Extension Letter – Extended OPMA provisions until May 31.
• Proclamation 20-28.1 (April 23, 2020) and State Legislature April 22 Extension Letter – Extended proclamation until May 4.
• Proclamation 20-28 (March 24, 2020) – Temporarily suspended portions of the OPMA and PRA that require in-person meetings or contact and making additional temporary changes.

Attorney General's Office

The Attorney General's Office has not provided any further updates to its COVID-19 OPMA guidance since June 19, 2020. Below are the guidance documents issued by the AG's office.

• "Sixth Update" Guidance (June 19, 2020) – No changes except for extending the guidance to July 1 to reflect Proclamation 20-28.5.
• "Fifth Update" Guidance (June 1, 2020) – Extending the March 26 OPMA guidance to June 17 and updating the provisions regarding taking "action" at meetings, to reflect Proclamation 20-28.4.
• “Fourth Update” Guidance (May 14, 2020) – One minor change extending the Public Records Act five-day response provision to May 31, except for records requests received electronically which now must be responded to within five business days, to reflect Proclamation 20-28.3.
• “Third Update” Guidance (May 6, 2020) – No changes except for extending the March 26 OPMA guidance to May 31 and extending the Public Records Act five-day response provision to May 11, to reflect Proclamation 20-28.2.
• “Second Update” Guidance (April 24, 2020) – No changes except for extending the March 26 guidance to May 4 to reflect Proclamation 20-28.1.
• "First Update" Supplemental Guidance (March 26, 2020) – Amends initial March 6 guidance to reflect OPMA suspensions and prohibitions in Proclamation 20-28.
• Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA) General Guidance Regarding Coronavirus (March 6, 2020) – Issued prior to Proclamation 20-28; reflects the normal Open Public Meetings Act requirements.

• Proclamation 20-28.14 (December 8, 2020) and State Legislature December 7 Extension Letter – Extended existing PRA provisions through January 19 with no changes.
• Proclamation 20-28.13 only impacted OPMA for election canvassing boards and had no effect on PRA
• Proclamation 20-28.12 (November 10, 2020) and State Legislature November 9 Extension Letter – Extended existing PRA provisions through December 7 with no changes.
• Proclamation 20-28.11 (October 2, 2020) and State Legislature October 1 Extension Letter – Extended existing PRA provisions through November 9 with no changes.
• Proclamation 20-28.10 only impacted OPMA for wildfire-impacted jurisdictions and had no effect on PRA
• Proclamation 20-28.9 (September 2, 2020) and State Legislature August 31 Extension Letter – Extended remaining PRA provisions through October 1 with no changes.
• Proclamation 20-28.8 (July 31, 2020) and State Legislature July 30 Extension Letter – Extended remaining PRA provisions through September 1 with no changes.
• Proclamation 20-28.7 (July 8, 2020) and State Legislature July 7 Extension Letter – Extended remaining PRA provisions through August 1 with no changes.
• Proclamation 20-28.6 (July 2, 2020) and State Legislature July 1 Extension Letter – Extended remaining PRA provisions through July 7 with no changes.
• Proclamation 20-28.5 (June 18, 2020) ​and State Legislature June 17 Extension Letter – Extended remaining PRA provisions through July 1 with no changes.
• Proclamation 20-28.4 (May 29, 2020) and State Legislature May 29 Extension Letter – Extended remaining PRA provisions through June 17 with no changes.
• Proclamation 20-28.3 (May 12, 2020) and State Legislature May 11 Extension Letter – Extended suspension of the 5-day response period through May 31, but not for requests received electronically. All public records requests received electronically on or after May 12, 2020 must be responded to within five business days.
• Proclamation 20-28.2 (May 5, 2020) and State Legislature May 4 Extension Letter – Extended PRA provisions until May 31, except for the suspension of the 5-day response period in RCW 42.56.520(1) which was only extended until May 11.
• Proclamation 20-28.1 (April 23, 2020) and State Legislature April 22 Extension Letter – Extended PRA provisions until May 4 with no changes.
• Proclamation 20-28 (March 24, 2020) – Temporarily suspended portions of the OPMA and PRA that require in-person meetings or contact and made additional temporary changes through April 23.

• Proclamation 20-64.4 (December 8, 2020) and State Legislature December 7 Extension Letter – Extended existing provisions through January 19 with no changes.
• Proclamation 20-64.3 (November 10, 2020) and State Legislature November 9 Extension Letter – Extended existing provisions through December 7 with no changes.
• Proclamation 20-64.2 (October 2, 2020) and State Legislature October 1 Extension Letter – Extended existing provisions through November 9 with no changes.
• Proclamation 20-64.1 (September 2, 2020) and ​State Legislature August 27 Extension Letter – Extended existing provisions through October 1 with no changes.
• Proclamation 20-64 (July 30, 2020) – Prohibits public agencies, including local governments, from releasing the personally identifying and contact information gathered by COVID-19 contact tracers or in customer/visitor/employee logs in response to a public records request. This prohibition does not apply to the name or location of a business or entity that is part of a contact tracing investigation. The original proclamation was set to expire August 29.

• Proclamation 20-34.4 (June 18, 2020) and State Legislature June 17 Extension Letter – Final extension; waiver expired on July 2.
• Proclamation 20-34.3 (May 29, 2020) and State Legislature May 29 Extension Letter – Extended waiver until June 17.
• Proclamation 20-34.2 (May 5, 2020) and State Legislature May 4 Extension Letter – Extended waiver until May 31.
• Proclamation 20-34.1 (April 23, 2020) and State Legislature April 22 Extension Letter – Extended waiver until May 4.
• Proclamation 20-34 (March 26, 2020) – Temporarily suspending the 150-day annual financial reporting deadline (which ordinarily would have been May 29, 2020).

• Proclamation 20-23.16 (July 2, 2021) – Final extension of utility shutoff/late fee prohibitions through 11:59 PM on September 30, 2021.
• Proclamation 20-23.15 (March 18, 2021) – Extended prohibitions through July 31.
• Proclamation 20-23.14 (January 19, 2021) – Extended prohibitions through April 30.
• Proclamation 20-23.13 (December 8, 2020) – Extended prohibitions through April 30.
• Proclamation 20-23.12 (November 10, 2020) – No changes to utility shutoff/late fee prohibitions, which continue through December 31.
• Proclamation 20-23.11 (October 14, 2020) – Extended prohibitions through December 31.
• Proclamation 20-23.10 (October 8, 2020) – No changes to utility shutoff/late fee prohibitions, which continue through October 15.
• Proclamation 20-23.9 (October 2, 2020) – No changes to utility shutoff/late fee prohibitions, which continue through October 15.
• Proclamation 20-23.8 (September 2, 2020) – No changes to utility shutoff/late fee prohibitions, which continue through October 15.
• Proclamation 20-23.7 (July 31, 2020) – Extended utility prohibitions through 11:59 PM on October 15; added new provision prohibiting utilities from disconnecting service to any residential customer who has requested assistance from the utility's COVID-19 Customer Support Program.
• Proclamation 20-23.6 (July 2, 2020) – Extended utility prohibitions through August 1, extended deadline for utilities to review and post COVID-19 Customer Support Programs to August 1, and provided new COVID-19 Utility Customer Support Program Guidance Document.
• Proclamation 20-23.5 (June 18, 2020) – No changes to utility shutoff, late fee, or COVID-19 Customer Support Program requirements, which continue through July 28, but recognized the legislative leadership's extension of the utility statutory waivers and suspensions through July 1.
• Proclamation 20-23.4 (May 29, 2020) – Extended prohibitions through July 28 and requires all utilities providing energy, telecommunications, and water services to develop and prominently post COVID-19 Customer Support Programs by July 10.
• Proclamation 20-23.3 (May 5, 2020) – Extended prohibitions through May 31.
• Proclamation 20-23.2 (April 17, 2020) – Through May 4, prohibited all energy, water, and telecommunications providers from (1) disconnecting residential service due to nonpayment, (2) refusing to reconnect residential customers who were disconnected due to nonpayment, and (3) charging late fees or reconnection fees.
• Proclamation 20-23.1 (March 24, 2020) – Continued to strongly encourage utilities to take reasonable actions to mitigate economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on utility customers.
• Proclamation 20-23 (March 18, 2020) – Strongly encouraged utilities to take reasonable actions to mitigate economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on utility customers.

• Proclamation 21-09.1 (September 24, 2021) – Extends temporary eviction moratorium "bridge" through October 31, 2021 because the majority of available rental assistance funding has not yet been distributed and full implementation of E2SSB 5160 has not yet occurred.
• Proclamation 21-09 (June 29, 2021) – Implements temporary "bridge" between expiration of Proclamation 20-19.6 and the protections and programs in E2SSB 5160. Was set to expire September 30, 2021; for a summary see the governor's June 29 news release.
• Proclamation 20-19.6 (March 18, 2021) – Extended statewide eviction restrictions through 11:59 PM on June 30, 2021. The 2021 state legislature, in Section 4 of E2SSB 5160, stated that this eviction moratorium "shall end on June 30, 2021." It was replaced by Proclamation 21-09.
• Proclamation 20-19.5 (December 31, 2020) – Extended eviction restrictions through March 31; incorporates newly approved federal funding for rental assistance
• Proclamation 20-19.4 (October 14, 2020) – Extended eviction restrictions until December 31, with some modifications
• Proclamation 20-19.3 (July 24, 2020) – Extended eviction restrictions until October 15.
• Proclamation 20-19.2 (June 2, 2020) – Extended eviction restrictions until August 1.
• Proclamation 20-19.1 (April 16, 2020) – Extended and expanded the residential eviction restrictions until June 4; also prohibited rent increases or threats to increase rent for residential tenants and for commercial tenants who have been negatively impacted by COVID-19. 
• Proclamation 20-19 (March 18, 2020) – Statewide moratorium on residential evictions for nonpayment of rent, effective until April 17.

• Proclamation 20-61 (June 30, 2020) – Suspending requirement for cities and towns to update their transportation improvement programs (TIPs) by July 1. This requirement was suspended through July 30 and was not renewed.
• Proclamation 20-40 (April 2, 2020) – Delaying the effective date of State Building Code amendments from July 1, 2020 to November 1, 2020. The State Building Code Council (SBCC) later voted to extend the effective date of the 2018 Building Codes to February 1, 2021. See the June 2020 minutes. (On January 8, 2021, the SBCC further extended the effective date to July 1, 2021, but this extension was vetoed by the governor.)