| Momentum Bucket | Strong Momentum |
| Legal Title | AN ACT Relating to fiscal matters; |
| Bill Description | Making 2025-2027 fiscal biennium supplemental operating appropriations. |
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What this bill does
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This bill amends multiple uncodified sections of chapter 424, Laws of 2025, changing and reallocating fiscal year 2026 and 2027 appropriations across many state agencies and legislative and judicial entities. It updates line items and earmarks funding for the legislature, courts and judicial administration, the Office of Public Defense and Office of Civil Legal Aid, the Governor’s office, Department of Commerce (housing, energy, and community programs), Department of Social and Health Services, Department of Corrections and Health Care Authority items, Washington Technology Solutions and statewide IT programs, and numerous other agencies. Many appropriations are provided “solely” for specified tasks, some include lapse conditions if related bills are not enacted, and numerous report and expenditure conditions are added.
The act also imposes or modifies procedural and oversight requirements. It directs JLARC to perform specified audits and evaluations (including a review of juvenile rehabilitation programs and an evaluation of the ignition interlock device revolving account) and requires reports by set dates. It directs the select committee on pension policy to study merging legacy pension systems and terminating LEOFF plan 1 and requires specified assistance. It assigns expanded duties and funding to the Office of Public Defense for assistance tied to vacated convictions and resentencing resulting from State v. Blake, and it amends court and public defense funding formulas, data collection, and pilot projects. The bill sets new IT governance and transparency requirements (one Washington ERP phase 1A funding with OFM oversight and monthly/quarterly reporting, WTS dashboard and vendor agile development requirements, statewide EHR and 988 platform oversight), authorizes limited intra‑agency transfer authorities for DSHS and Commerce under conditions, and mandates many studies, analyses, and reports (with multiple deadlines such as JLARC reporting by June 30, 2026; pension committee reporting by January 9, 2026; and various November/December/June deadlines).
This summary is limited to the extracted text. Several provisions in the provided chunks end mid-sentence or reference other sections (for example, the family well‑being community collaborative report, section 701 oversight rules, and the full texts of many referenced bills) that are not included here, so some appropriation details, provisos, and implementation mechanics could not be determined from the excerpts alone.
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Why it matters
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If enacted, the bill directs large, targeted new spending and oversight toward courts and legal services, housing and homelessness, major state IT and health systems, and state hospital and behavioral health operations. Courts and local governments get money and technical help for handling vacated convictions from State v. Blake, for self‑help centers, security, and data collection; the Office of Public Defense and the Office of Civil Legal Aid receive significant new funding to provide training, contracts, emergency client assistance, and tenant and dependency counsel. Commerce and the housing programs receive major grants to expand emergency shelter, transition encampments to housing, and a $200 million covenant homeownership program, while many community nonprofits, tribes, and local governments are eligible for smaller targeted grants. A very large IT investment (one Washington ERP phase 1A) and statewide EHR and 988 projects are funded with strict quarterly and monthly reporting, agile development requirements, and dedicated readiness and remediation pools managed by OFM and Washington Technology Solutions. The Department of Social and Health Services gains flexibility to reallocate FY2026 funds to manage a reorganization and must increase reporting; state hospitals get new staffing and safety funding and new reporting requirements tied to an acuity staffing tool.
The groups most affected are counties and cities (new reporting duties and grant opportunities, plus possible relief for local court and vacatur costs), public defense systems and legal aid providers (additional work and funding to handle vacatur, training, and emergency client needs), housing providers and homeless service nonprofits (new funding but also new outcome, MOU and reporting obligations), and state IT and health authorities (large implementation responsibilities, extra oversight, and designated readiness costs covered but subject to OFM/WTS approval and monthly reporting). Agencies gain new cash for specific programs but also new responsibilities and tighter oversight; implementation details for some items (including some lapse clauses, exact eligibility criteria, and the content of section 701 oversight) are incomplete in the extracted text, so timing, final conditions, and some administrative rules remain uncertain.
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| Official Documents | View Full Bill Text |
| Date Introduced | 02/25/2026 |
| Originating Chamber | House |
| Biennium | 2025-26 |
| Total Campaign Dollars Backing Bill | $1,211,555.75 |
| BUDGETS |
| Hearing | House Appropriations (Public) |
| Hearing | House Appropriations (Public) |
| Hearing | House Appropriations (Public) |
| Hearing | House Appropriations (Executive) |