The bill reenacts and amends RCW 43.88C.010 to establish a caseload forecast council, specify its membership and officer selection, and require the council to employ a caseload forecast supervisor who may hire staff. It sets voting rules for council actions (at least five affirmative votes to employ the supervisor; at least four affirmative votes to approve official state caseload forecasts prepared under RCW 43.88C.020), requires a three-year supervisor term with a one-year extension review after the first year, and provides that if the council cannot approve a forecast by the date required under RCW 43.88C.020 the supervisor must submit the forecast without council approval and it will take effect as if approved. The amendment also allows a councilmember who did not vote to request an alternative forecast based on specified assumptions and establishes travel expense reimbursement rules for members. The law defines "caseload" to include counts for many categories of public services and programs and directs the council to prepare forecasts (some explicitly described as courtesies) for a long list of programs and populations, including Developmental Disabilities Administration waiver services and related programs, supported living services, state-operated living alternatives, temporary assistance for needy families, working connections child care, extended foster care and behavioral rehabilitation services, juvenile rehabilitation long-term caseload, foster care and adoption support, state food assistance and the supplemental nutrition assistance program, Washington college bound scholarship and Washington college grant participants, early childhood education and assistance program participation, correctional institutions and supervision, common school system enrollment, long-term care, medical assistance, and beginning with the first forecast after July 23, 2023, the number of people eligible for the working families' tax credit broken down by number of qualifying children. Some forecasting start dates and requirements are tied to specific forecasts beginning in November 2021 or November 2022 and to a January 1, 2023 presentation, with at least some of those provisions noted as subject to appropriations. The excerpt shows the bill passed the House on February 12, 2026 (95-0) and the Senate on March 4, 2026 (49-0). Important contextual material is missing from this excerpt: the text or dates in RCW 43.88C.020 that determine when forecasts are due are not included, the referenced service request list and its provision are not provided, and other sections of the bill or related appropriations or implementation details outside RCW 43.88C.010 are not present in the extracted facts.

If enacted, the bill sets up a formal caseload forecast council with a paid supervisor and staff, specific voting rules for hiring and approving forecasts, and a list of state programs the council must estimate (including a range of DDA waiver services, supported living, foster care, juvenile rehabilitation, school and college aid programs, food assistance, and a breakdown of people eligible for the working families' tax credit). The supervisor serves three-year terms (with a possible one-year extension after year one), can hire staff, and is empowered to submit an official forecast that becomes effective even if the council has not approved it by the statutory deadline; council members who did not vote can request alternative forecasts based on their own assumptions. This concentrates responsibility for producing timely official caseload numbers in the supervisor and council leadership, while expanding the scope of forecasts state agencies and budget writers will likely rely on. The people most affected are the caseload forecast supervisor and staff, council members (appointed by the governor and legislative caucus leaders), and the agencies and programs that are newly required to be forecasted, such as DDA programs and various assistance and education programs; these groups will face more forecasting attention and possible administrative costs, and council members will incur travel expense reimbursements under existing statutes. A practical risk is that official forecasts may be issued without full council agreement, which could change how agencies and the Legislature use those numbers for planning and budgeting. Important details are missing from the provided text—especially the timing requirements in RCW 43.88C.020, any funding or appropriation language, and how “courtesy” forecasts will be handled—so the exact timing, scope, and cost impacts are uncertain.