This bill amends several existing Washington statutes to establish rules for an "essential needs and housing support program," set how a new $183 county recording surcharge is used, and change related eligibility, referral, data sharing, reporting, and administrative procedures. It directs the department that administers the program to distribute funds as grants to designated county-level essential needs and housing support entities, requires county designation of those entities, permits flexible uses of funds (including direct cash assistance when tied to a client's housing stability plan and other payment methods), limits that department's administrative use of funds to no more than 5 percent, requires entities to enter client data into the homeless client management information system, and gives the department authority to review performance, recommend improvements, and designate alternatives for poor performance. The bill adds reporting deadlines (a preliminary report due Dec. 31, 2011, and annual reports beginning Dec. 1, 2012), requires verification and an updated secure list of eligible referral individuals, and provides limited civil and criminal immunity for good-faith decisions about providing housing or essential needs support while preserving contractual remedies. Financial and allocation changes are specified by amending county recording fee law (RCW 36.22.250) and related accounts. The bill imposes a $183 surcharge per recorded instrument and directs certain percentages of the total collected to state accounts: 54.1 percent to the home security fund, 13.1 percent to an "affordable housing for all" account, and 1.8 percent to a landlord mitigation program account. It requires counties to retain up to 10 percent for county administration, retain at least 75 percent for local homeless housing plan purposes, and at least 15 percent for eligible housing activities serving extremely lowand very low-income households, with specified eligible activities (acquisition, rehab, operating costs, vouchers, emergency shelter). The Department of Commerce may use up to 10 percent of some statewide accounts for administration and at least 90 percent for homelessness assistance and affordable housing grants; counties have a right of first refusal for certain grant funds subject to a department-established response window. The bill modifies eligibility and procedural rules under Title 74 for referrals to the housing and essential needs program and for the aged, blind, or disabled and pregnant women assistance programs. It defines "substantial risk" for priority housing support (documentation showing loss of housing or services within 30 days), requires referral verification at least every 12 months, and specifies income/resource eligibility thresholds (including that the department's income standard for referrals shall not exceed 100 percent of the federal poverty level). It excludes persons primarily unable to work because of a substance use disorder from ABD eligibility (while allowing referrals to treatment or shelter and allowing ABD benefits for persons incapacitated for other medical reasons), sets good-cause standards for refusing required substance use treatment, addresses concurrent receipt and recovery of duplicated SSI and ABD payments (SSI received for the same period as ABD will not be treated as debt for periods on or after Oct. 1, 2025; duplications before that date remain recoverable), and includes other resource-exemption, sales-forgiveness, and overpayment-recovery rules. The bill amends RCW 43.185C.220 and .230, RCW 36.22.250, and multiple sections of Title 74 (including RCW 74.04.005, 74.04.805, and 74.62.030). Some text and context are missing from the extracted material. The record of the surcharge distribution is cut off in places, some definition text (for example, the statutory definition of "homeless persons") and portions of the amended Title 74 sections are incomplete or truncated, and there are bracketed edits whose final form is not fully shown. These gaps prevent confirmation of the entire distribution scheme and full wording of every amended subsection based solely on the provided facts.

If enacted, the bill creates a new $183 surcharge on many recorded documents that will generate ongoing revenue split so most flows into a state “home security” account and county homelessness programs while smaller shares fund affordable housing, landlord mitigation, and program administration. Counties will receive and keep large portions for their local homeless housing plans (with at least 75% for plan purposes and at least 15% for eligible housing activities) and may use up to 10% for administration; the Department of Commerce will oversee large grant programs (allowed up to 10% admin) and can award or reassign county-level grants. Designated local entities (county governments or community nonprofits) will be paid by grant to provide essential needs and housing supports, will be required to enter client data and report to state agencies, can use flexible funding tools including limited direct cash assistance tied to housing stability plans, and face performance review with the department able to replace poorly performing providers. The bill also changes who DSHS refers for housing supports and tightens some eligibility rules: DSHS must determine eligibility for referrals from aged, blind, disabled, and pregnant-women assistance programs, will share secure referral lists monthly with Commerce and local providers, and will refer people with primary substance use disorder to treatment rather than ABD cash benefits; pregnant-women assistance recipients can get referrals for up to 24 months. Practical effects include new local revenue and program responsibilities for counties and providers, new reporting and data-sharing duties for Commerce and DSHS, and a predictable funding stream for eviction prevention, rapid rehousing, and subsidized housing activities; the bill leaves some details unclear in the extracted text, including the full breakdown of all surcharge distributions and certain timeframes for county responses and program administration.