This bill creates a new statute (a new chapter in Title 43 RCW) called the "food economics, availability, and security over time (FEAST) act." It is a procedural law that directs the Office of Financial Management (OFM), working with appropriate legislative committees and staff, to establish a mechanism to determine the fiscal impact of proposed legislation that would directly or indirectly increase or decrease regulatory costs for entities engaged in agriculture. The law requires OFM to prepare written fiscal-impact reports (fiscal notes) on request by a legislator. The fiscal notes must show, by fiscal year, total impact on the agricultural economy for the first two years the legislation would be in effect and a cumulative six-year forecast; where feasible they must also indicate impact on each agricultural industry or a representative sampling. Fiscal notes are prepared only upon a legislator's request, and a request is treated as continuing for formal amendments or substitutes except in specified circumstances. OFM must complete a requested fiscal note within one week unless the requesting legislator allows more time; if not completed in one week, OFM must send daily progress reports to the requesting legislator, and if a request is referred to the director of commerce the daily report must state the date and time of that referral. The act affects OFM and its director (or designee), the director of commerce (as a possible referral recipient), the office of the secretary of state (for registration status), legislative committees and staff, and entities engaged in agriculture. The act includes a partial definition of "entities engaged in agriculture" as entities registered with the secretary of state as engaged in manufacturing, production, or processing of agricultural products. The bill text provided does not specify the new chapter number within Title 43, which legislative committees are intended, any funding or enforcement mechanisms for the fiscal-impact process, or whether other types of agricultural entities beyond the partial definition are included. The bill was read for the first time on 02/21/25.

If enacted, the bill creates a new requirement that the Office of Financial Management produce written fiscal-impact reports when a legislator asks about how proposed laws would change regulatory costs for entities registered as engaged in manufacturing, production, or processing of agricultural products. Those reports must show year-by-year impacts for the first two years and a cumulative six-year forecast, try to break impacts down by industry or representative sampling, be finished within one week unless the requesting legislator allows more time, and trigger daily progress reports (including the date and time of any referral to the director of commerce) if the one-week deadline is missed. A single legislator request will carry forward for formal amendments and substitutes unless the legislator says otherwise or the altered version is adopted very late in session. The most affected parties are OFM, legislators, and the defined agricultural businesses. OFM will face new, time-sensitive workloads and likely need more staff or to reallocate resources to meet one-week turnaround and daily reporting requirements, creating administrative costs and a risk of rushed or incomplete analyses if resources aren’t provided. Legislators will gain quicker, standardized fiscal information to influence decisions on bills affecting agriculture. Registered agricultural manufacturers, producers, and processors may benefit from more transparent estimates of how proposed rules would affect their costs, but the text leaves key details unclear—such as which legislative committees will cooperate, exact chapter numbering, funding or enforcement for the new process, and whether other types of agricultural entities are included.