This bill creates a new affordable homeownership revolving loan fund program in the Department of Commerce and a corresponding program account in the state treasury. The program provides low-interest loans to eligible nonprofit developers to finance construction of permanently affordable homeownership for low-income households, subject to available appropriations. Key loan and program rules in the bill include a requirement that financed housing remain affordable for at least 99 years, loan awards based on department-established criteria (including readiness to proceed, leveraged capital, cost efficiency, geographic distribution, and applicant qualifications), maximum loans generally capped at 50 percent of total project costs (department may exceed for cause), interest rates greater than 1 percent and not exceeding 2.5 percent, loan repayment generally due after all homes in the project are sold (with department rule exceptions), loans must be assumable, recipients must begin construction within 180 days, follow an “evergreen sustainable development standard,” file annual compliance reports, and submit to department monitoring and reporting (fees allowed). The department may spend up to 3 percent of the program’s biennial appropriation for administration, may not use general fund money to implement the program, and must track interest earnings and repaid funds separately for reloaning. The act also reenacts and amends RCW 43.84.092 to include the new affordable homeownership revolving loan fund account among the accounts that receive a proportionate share of earnings from the treasury income account; the bill describes monthly treasury income distributions and application of the federal Cash Management Improvement Act processes. Sections 1 through 4 of the act are established as a new chapter in Title 43 RCW. The bill sets Section 5 to expire July 1, 2028, and Section 6 to take effect July 1, 2028. Several details are not present in the extracted material: the exact new chapter number in Title 43 is not shown; the bill header’s overall effective and other expiration dates (beyond the specific Sec. 5 and Sec. 6 dates noted) are not provided here; the full, continued list of accounts referenced in the amended RCW 43.84.092 is truncated; and the text of the department’s “evergreen sustainable development standard,” specific department rules (including exceptions to repayment timing), and any funding appropriation amounts or other implementation details are not included in the provided facts.

If enacted, the state will create a dedicated revolving loan program in the Department of Commerce that offers low-interest (greater than 1% but no more than 2.5%) loans to nonprofit developers to build homeownership that remains affordable for at least 99 years. Those loans can cover up to 50% of project costs (higher only for specific reasons), are generally repaid after all homes in a project are sold, and must meet timing and program conditions — developers must begin construction within 180 days, follow an adopted sustainability standard, accept long-term resale and refinancing restrictions, file annual compliance reports, and may face monitoring fees. Loan repayments and interest earnings go back into a state treasury account to be tracked separately and reloaned, and the department may use up to 3% of biennial appropriations from that account for administration but cannot use general funds to run the program. Nonprofit housing developers are the primary beneficiaries because the program provides cheaper capital and could make permanently affordable for-sale projects more feasible, but they will shoulder stricter long-term obligations, timelines, and potential monitoring costs; their projects will also need other capital since loans are capped at half the cost in most cases. The Department of Commerce gains new administrative and monitoring responsibilities and will depend on legislative appropriations plus loan repayments and treasury earnings to sustain the fund. Key implementation details that will affect real-world outcomes — such as how much money is initially appropriated, the department’s specific rules on repayment exceptions and the sustainability standard, and the program’s effective dates — are not provided in the extracted facts.