This bill amends an uncodified section of a 2013 act (2013 3rd sp.s. c 2 s 1) to address aerospace industry tax preferences. It characterizes those tax preferences as intended to create or retain jobs (citing RCW 82.32.808(2)(c)), states a public policy goal of maintaining and growing Washington’s aerospace workforce, and expresses legislative intent to conditionally extend the aerospace tax preferences through July 1, 2040 if certain review findings are met. This is a modification of existing law concerning tax preferences and does not create a new criminal penalty or alter penalties. The bill creates a procedural requirement: the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee (JLARC) must review the tax preferences and report to the legislature by December 1, 2019 and every five years thereafter. Reviews must compare changes in Washington’s aerospace employment with other states and international measures, and beginning with the review due December 1, 2029 JLARC must assess Washington’s share of aerospace employment using a rolling five-year average. JLARC is directed, to the extent practicable, to use occupational data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and state agencies that administer unemployment insurance, and to consider whether noncommercial aerospace sectors, large employment shifts across aerospace job types and sectors, and changing economic conditions affected Washington’s share. The bill assigns responsibilities to the Legislature and JLARC and identifies the Bureau of Labor Statistics and state unemployment insurance agencies as data sources. Important details are missing from the provided text: the specific tax incentives covered by “the tax preferences,” their current expiration dates, and formal statutory definitions for terms such as “aerospace industry employment” and “share of aerospace industry employment.” The timeline in the text appears inconsistent because the required initial JLARC report date is December 1, 2019 while the bill was read for the first time on February 5, 2026; the document does not explain this discrepancy.

If enacted, the bill sets up a schedule of five-year reviews by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee (JLARC) to judge whether Washington’s aerospace tax preferences should be kept in place through July 1, 2040. JLARC must use Bureau of Labor Statistics and state unemployment insurance data to compare Washington’s aerospace employment share with other states, and starting with the review due December 1, 2029 it must use a rolling five-year average and specifically consider effects from noncommercial aerospace and major shifts across aerospace job types. The practical trigger is that the legislature intends to extend the tax incentives only if Washington’s share of aerospace employment stays the same or grows relative to other states; however, the specific incentives, current expiration dates, and precise employment metrics to be used are not described in the provided text, leaving some implementation details unclear. The groups most affected are aerospace companies, their suppliers and employees—engineers, mechanics, and support staff—who may keep benefiting from lower tax burdens if JLARC’s reviews show Washington maintaining or growing its aerospace employment share. JLARC and the state agencies that administer unemployment insurance will take on ongoing analytic and reporting duties, which will require staff time and data work; the legislature gains a data-driven basis for extending incentives but businesses will face uncertainty until each scheduled review is completed.