The bill adds a new section to chapter 43.88 RCW creating a procedural change that establishes a zero-based budget review process for state programs. Beginning in 2026 and in each even-numbered year thereafter, the legislature must specify which programs agencies must review under this process, with the stated intent that roughly 20 percent of all state programs be reviewed each biennium so every program is reviewed within a 10-year cycle. Agencies are required to submit zero-based budget reviews for legislatively identified programs starting with their biennial budget requests for the 2027–2029 fiscal biennium and for each biennium thereafter. These reviews must be included as a separate document in the agency budget request, filed electronically on the fiscal website managed by the Legislative Evaluation and Accountability Program Committee, and considered by the governor and the legislature during budget development. The House Appropriations Committee and the Senate Ways and Means Committee must hold at least one public hearing on the submitted reviews. The new section defines key terms: "agency activity" as described in RCW 43.88.090 and the Office of Financial Management’s agency activity inventory; "program" as a distinguishable service or unit accomplishing a public goal (excluding entitlement services listed in RCW 43.88C.010 (7) and (12)); and "zero-based budget review" as the information and analysis prepared by agencies and considered during budget development. Affected parties include state agencies, the governor, the legislature, OFM, and the Legislative Evaluation and Accountability Program Committee. The extracted text does not include the full texts of the referenced RCW provisions, an overall effective date beyond the timing provisions above, rules for how the legislature will calculate the "20 percent" target, or any enforcement, compliance consequences, or penalties for failing to submit required reviews.

If enacted, state agencies will have to prepare separate zero-based budget review documents for any programs the Legislature lists starting with the 2027–2029 biennial budget; the Legislature intends to rotate reviews so about 20% of programs face this review each biennium. Those reviews must be filed electronically, considered by the governor and the Legislature during budget development, and get at least one public hearing in the House appropriations and Senate ways and means committees, which will increase scrutiny of program funding and may lead to changes in how programs are funded or prioritized. The most affected parties are state agencies (which will incur extra work and likely costs to produce the reviews), the governor and budget committees (which must use the new material in budget decisions), and the Legislative Evaluation and Accountability Program Committee (which will host the filings). Entitlement programs listed under the referenced RCWs are excluded. Important implementation details are missing here: the text does not show the exact RCW definitions used, how the Legislature will calculate or pick the “20 percent” of programs, whether there are penalties for noncompliance, or an explicit effective date beyond the timing provisions, so the scope of workload and enforcement remains uncertain.