This bill amends existing law (RCW 28A.500.015 and RCW 84.52.0531) to establish an ongoing state local effort assistance funding program to supplement school district enrichment levies and to change how enrichment levy limits are calculated and administered. It requires annual state local effort assistance beginning in calendar year 2020, with a formula that pays eligible districts either a proportion of their maximum local effort assistance when their actual enrichment levy rate is below $1.50 per $1,000 assessed value or the full maximum local effort assistance when the rate meets or exceeds $1.50. It also creates a separate calendar year 2022 formula for state-tribal education compact schools based on per-student levy amounts, capped at $1,550 per student (adjusted for inflation from 2019) and multiplied by prior-year enrollment. The bill specifies that the state local effort assistance is not part of the state program of basic education. The bill changes enrichment levy limits by setting the maximum dollar levy (for taxes levied in 2020 and thereafter) as the lesser of $2.50 per $1,000 assessed value or a maximum per-pupil limit, where the per-pupil limit is $2,500 (or $3,000 for districts with 40,000 or more FTE students) adjusted for inflation beginning in 2020. It requires districts seeking voter approval of enrichment levies to obtain approval of an enrichment levy expenditure plan under RCW 28A.505.240 before placing propositions on the ballot (for collection in 2020 and thereafter), directs the Superintendent of Public Instruction to develop rules and provide data, and requires enrichment levy revenues to be deposited in a separate general fund subfund starting with taxes levied for collection in 2018; 2018-19 revenues are subject to specified restrictions and audit requirements. Levies for transportation vehicles and facility construction or modernization under RCW 84.52.053 are excluded from the new levy limitations. The act takes effect January 1, 2026. The bill adds or revises several definitions (including "eligible school district," "maximum local effort assistance," the "state local effort assistance threshold" set at $1,550 per student adjusted for inflation, and an expanded definition of "student enrollment" that lists specific programs and student groups) and uses different inflation measures in the two amended sections. Agencies affected include school districts, state-tribal education compact schools, and the Superintendent of Public Instruction. The extracted text contains some gaps: several struck or parenthetical passages and prior exceptions appear removed but the chunk does not show the prior or full context; the precise mechanics and base year for the inflation adjustments are referenced but not fully detailed here; and the provision that levy limits are reduced "as provided under RCW 43.09.2856(2)" is cited but that subsection's content is not included.

If enacted, poorer school districts that raise less from local enrichment levies would receive state "local effort assistance" payments to bring per-student enrichment funding closer to a statewide threshold, while districts that already levy at or above the $1.50 per $1,000 assessed value rate would get no extra aid beyond their maximum. At the same time, local enrichment levies are capped by either a per‑assessment value limit or a per‑pupil dollar limit (with different per‑pupil caps for large and small districts, both indexed for inflation), districts must have an approved expenditure plan before putting an enrichment levy on the ballot, and enrichment levy receipts must be held in a separate subfund and are subject to audit and spending restrictions. State‑tribal compact schools get a separate per‑student payment formula starting in 2022, and the Superintendent of Public Instruction must issue rules and data to implement parts of the law. The people most affected are school district finance officers and school boards, who may see changes in available revenue, new accounting and audit tasks, and an extra administrative step before asking voters for levies; districts with low property wealth stand to gain state funding that could reduce pressure to increase local levies, while districts near the new caps may face reduced levy capacity and need to adjust budgets. The superintendent’s office will take on rulemaking and calculation duties. There is an ambiguity in the text about timing—funding is described as beginning in calendar year 2020 while the act’s effective date is January 1, 2026—and the exact inflation adjustment mechanics and a referenced reduction rule are not fully detailed here.