This bill amends existing law governing the enhanced food fish excise tax (called the "landing tax") by changing how revenues are deposited and distributed. It directs that taxes the Department of Revenue collects under the chapter generally be deposited in the state general fund except where the bill specifies otherwise, and it requires 50 percent of the excise tax collected to be distributed to the city or county where the person liable to the tax first possessed the enhanced food fish in Washington after it was landed. The bill amends RCW 82.27.070 and 2020 c 148 s 28 and takes effect January 1, 2027. For anadromous game fish, the excise tax is deposited in the fish, wildlife, and conservation account created in RCW 77.12.170(3), except that 50 percent of the tax collected is distributed to the city or county where the fish were landed. For chinook, coho, and chum salmon taken in ocean waters, the Columbia River, Willapa Bay, and Grays Harbor, the tax is split so that 2.625 percent is deposited in the state general fund, 1 percent is deposited in the fish, wildlife, and conservation account, and 2.625 percent is distributed to the city or county where the person liable first possessed the enhanced food fish after landing. This is a statutory fiscal and procedural change to tax distribution rules rather than a new crime or penalty change. The extracted text does not include statutory definitions for key terms (for example, "enhanced food fish" and "person liable to this tax"), does not specify the chapter number in full, and does not set out administrative procedures the Department of Revenue will use to calculate or make the distributions.

If enacted, coastal and inland cities and counties that first take possession of landed enhanced food fish would start receiving a direct share of the landing excise tax: generally 50% of the enhanced food fish tax collected would go to the local jurisdiction where the fish were first possessed, and for certain chinook, coho, and chum from ocean waters, the Columbia River, Willapa Bay, and Grays Harbor the tax is split so small percentages go to the state general fund and fish/wildlife account and 2.625% goes to the local landing jurisdiction. That means those host communities are likely to see new, recurring local revenue starting January 1, 2027, while the specified state accounts and the general fund would receive smaller portions of those particular taxes. The Department of Revenue will be responsible for collecting and depositing funds according to these new splits, so it will need to carry out whatever accounting and transfers are required, though the bill text here does not include definitions (for example, what counts as “enhanced food fish” or who is the “person liable”) or the administrative procedures for calculating and distributing the shares. Commercial fishers are referenced as stakeholders but no direct operational changes for fishers are described in the extracted facts.