This bill amends existing law to designate the department named in the section as the state lead agency for Part C of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and requires that department to administer an "early support for infants and toddlers" program providing early intervention services to eligible children from birth to age three. Eligibility is to be determined according to Part C of IDEA, other applicable federal and state law, and Washington Administrative Code provisions adopted by the department. The bill specifies that services under this section must not supplant existing state services or funding and clarifies that these services are not part of the state's program of basic education under the Washington Constitution. The bill changes funding and distribution procedures by directing that funding be appropriated to the department based on the annual average head count of eligible and receiving children ages birth to three multiplied by the statewide allocation generated by specified RCW distribution formulas and allocations, per statewide full-time equivalent enrollment in common schools, multiplied by 1.00. The department must distribute funds to early intervention service providers and, when appropriate, to county lead agencies. For funding counts, a child is considered to be receiving early intervention services if the child received services within the same month as the monthly count day, defined as the last business day of the month. Federal funds associated with Part C services remain subject to federal payor-of-last-resort requirements under 34 C.F.R. §303.510 (2020). This is an administrative and funding formula modification to existing law rather than a creation of a new crime or penalty. The change sets procedural rules for program administration, eligibility reference points, funding calculation and distribution, and monthly counting rules. The extracted text does not identify which specific state agency is meant by "the department," does not include the detailed WAC provisions that will define eligibility, does not provide the referenced distribution formula calculations or tables, and does not supply prior multiplier values, appropriation amounts, effective dates, or broader fiscal impact information.

If enacted, a single state agency will take responsibility for running and funding early intervention services for children birth to three under federal Part C of IDEA, using a head-count-based funding method tied to existing school funding formulas with the multiplier fixed at 1.00. That change will make the last business day of each month the key date for counting which children are considered "receiving" services and therefore included in funding calculations, and federal funds must be treated as payor of last resort so the state and providers will need to coordinate billing with other payers. The department will have to distribute money to early intervention providers and sometimes county lead agencies, which could change administrative work and billing practices for those providers; families may see a clearer single-state point of administration but not necessarily more services because funding levels depend on formulas and appropriations. Important details are missing here—most notably which specific department is named, the prior multiplier and exact dollar amounts from the referenced school funding formulas—so the net fiscal winners or losers and the magnitude of administrative changes are uncertain.