This bill adds a new section to chapter 43.190 RCW creating a statutory requirement that the long-term care ombuds program, in partnership with the Department of Commerce and consulting with the Office of Financial Management (OFM), develop an annual funding recommendation. The recommendation must propose funding to achieve a ratio of one full-time ombuds per 2,000 long-term care residents, account for projected growth in licensed long-term care beds using Caseload Forecast Council forecasts, include inflationary adjustments tied to the consumer price index, and account for any administrative needs of the Department of Commerce. The Department of Commerce must submit the recommendation to OFM and the chairs of the legislative fiscal committees by September 1, 2025, and each subsequent September 1st. This is a procedural change that creates a new statutory reporting and budgeting recommendation duty; it does not itself appropriate funds, change criminal penalties, or establish enforcement mechanisms. The text references related statutes and reports (resident rights, vulnerable adult classification, the Caseload Forecast Council, the Older Americans Act, a 2020 Commerce report, and an Institute of Medicine recommendation). Important context is missing about funding sources, appropriation language, and implementation or enforcement details.

The bill would require the long-term care ombuds program, working with the Department of Commerce and consulting the Office of Financial Management, to produce and annually submit by September 1st a funding recommendation sized to reach one full-time ombuds per 2,000 residents and adjusted for projected bed growth, inflation, and Commerce’s administrative needs. Practically, that creates a recurring, standardized estimate of how much budget authority advocates believe is needed to staff ombuds services as the long-term care population changes. The groups most affected are the long-term care ombuds program (new ongoing workload and likely higher recommended staffing and budget levels over time), the Department of Commerce (responsible for submitting the recommendation), and budget decisionmakers at OFM and the legislature (who will receive the estimate when setting operating budgets). The bill does not include any appropriation or specify funding sources, so it is unclear whether or how lawmakers will fund the recommendations; there is a real possibility the recommendations could be produced but not acted on financially.