The bill creates a new state law by adding a new chapter to Title 43 RCW that establishes a competitive grant program, administered by the Department of Commerce, to fund fire protection services capital projects in local governments located in rural counties. It requires the department to convene a committee (including at least one representative each from the department, a fire protection district, a county, and a city) to develop grant criteria and prioritization processes and sets specific factors the department must consider when prioritizing projects. Grants may be disbursed only after private or public match funds are committed, the department must consider applicant financial need and local economic conditions when setting match levels, and department funding to any jurisdiction is capped at $2,000,000 per biennium. Grant contracts must include a holding period appropriate to the grant amount and require facilities be used for the grant’s express purpose; if a grantee violates contract provisions the grantee must repay the principal to the state general fund plus interest calculated at the rate on state general obligation bonds issued most closely to the grant authorization date. The bill also imposes administrative reporting requirements on the department, with the first annual report due November 1, 2026, to the Office of Financial Management and the legislature and recurring thereafter; the report must include application counts and amounts requested, descriptions and scores of approved projects, total disbursements, and amounts obligated and timing. Affected entities identified include the Department of Commerce (program administrator), the Office of Financial Management (which determines rural county status and receives reports), eligible local governments in rural counties, and the state general fund (recipient of repayments). The text supplied does not specify an appropriation or funding source for the program, the full committee membership or appointment process, precise match percentages or minimums, the required length of the holding period, detailed application or award timelines, scoring methodology, appeals or dispute processes, or a detailed definition of “facility providing fire protection services.”

If enacted, the bill creates a new competitive grant program run by the Department of Commerce to pay for planning, acquisition, construction, repair, or improvement of fire protection facilities in counties designated as rural. Local governments (cities, towns, counties, fire districts, port districts and similar entities) could receive up to $2 million per jurisdiction per biennium, but grants would only be paid after the applicant commits matching resources (cash, equipment, land, buildings, or like-kind contributions), and the department will favor projects based on factors like poor insurance ratings, ability to leverage other funds, levy capacity, readiness to build, community safety impact, distressed area status, and service consolidation. The department will form a committee to set program criteria, must report annually starting November 1, 2026, and the Office of Financial Management will identify which counties qualify as rural. Grant contracts will require grantees to hold and use improvements for an agreed-upon period and require repayment of the principal plus interest if the grantee breaks the contract, creating a clear financial risk for recipients. Important details are missing from the text provided—there is no specified funding source or appropriation, no defined match percentages or minimums, no set length for the holding period, and the application and scoring process are not described—so how much money will actually flow and how difficult it will be to win or comply with a grant remain unclear.