Earlier today we published our overview of the operating budget as passed by the Legislature. (The governor has not yet signed the budget.) As always, the budget is rife with provisos that are too small to make the overview but may provide some hints as to what the Legislature might want to work on next year. Some of the interesting items include the following. (The section numbers below refer to the version of the bill passed by the Legislature.)

Tax policy:

• $100,000 from the general fund–state (GFS) for the Employment Security Department (ESD) to convene a work group on “a wage replacement program for undocumented workers.” The work group must “identify dedicated streams of revenue within the current unemployment insurance taxation model to fully fund an equitable wage replacement program for undocumented workers.” A report is due by Nov. 15, 2024. (Sec. 225(44))
• $200,000 from the GFS to study royalty receipts apportionment for local business taxes. A report is due by Dec. 31, 2024. (Sec. 139(15))
• $100,000 from the GFS for the Dept. of Revenue to “study how to collect race and ethnicity information from organizations or entities that receive tax preferences.” A report is due by June 30, 2025. (Sec. 139(11))
• $100,000 from the GFS for ESD to “report how it will collect employee race and ethnicity information from employers that participate in the unemployment insurance program and employees who participate in the paid family medical leave program.” A report is due by June 30, 2025. (Sec. 225(43))

Education and child care:

• $800,000 from the performance audits of government account for the state auditor’s office to implement SHB 2180. (SHB 2180, which has not yet been signed by the governor, increases the special education enrollment cap and requires the state auditor to “review the prevalence of disabilities and whether the provisions and funding for evaluating students and providing services reflects the prevalence of disabilities, including whether any populations are disparately underevaluated or underserved.”) The audit is due by Nov. 30, 2025. (Sec. 123(5))
• School districts must report to the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) by Nov. 1, 2024 on how they have used the funding from the 2023 and 2024 increases to the special education enrollment cap. OSPI must compile the reports for the Legislature by Dec. 1, 2024. (Sec. 509(16))
• $100,000 from the GFS for Seattle Public Schools “to conduct an analysis of why families have left the district and how they may be attracted back.” A report is due by June 30, 2025. (Sec. 522(u))
• $250,000 from the workforce education investment account for a study on establishing a scholarship fund with money from the Washington advanced college tuition payment program account. A report is due by June 30, 2025. (Sec. 608(25))
• $325,000 from the GFS for a pilot program for onsite child care for construction workers. A report is due by June 30, 2025. (Sec. 131(7))

Housing:

• $500,000 from the GFS for a performance audit of the Washington State Housing Finance Commission’s “oversight of housing developers that offer a rent-to-own option for projects funded by the commission.” (Sec. 123(4)) (This audit was requested by legislators in October and ordered by the state auditor in November, according to the Washington State Standard.)
• $2.0 million from the GFS for the Dept. of Commerce to contract with the Housing Finance Commission “for activities related to the implementation of the covenant homeownership program.” A plan for how to help first-time homebuyers is due by Jan. 15, 2025. (Sec. 127(101))
• The Dept. of Commerce must staff the “permanent supportive housing operations, maintenance, and services forecast” and “develop a model to estimate demand” for permanent supportive housing that qualifies for grants from the affordable housing for all account. The forecast must be updated each February and November. (Sec. 127(11)(d))
• $250,000 for the Office of Financial Management to “provide recommendations on the method and format for studying a transition to a department of housing.” Recommendations are due by Dec. 1, 2024. (Sec. 133(27))
• $500,000 from the GFS for a nonprofit “to educate residents on the benefits of affordable housing in east King county” and enable transit-oriented development. (Sec. 127(128))
• $200,000 from the GFS for Whatcom County to “study the potential of creating an interjurisdictional coordinating body focused on improving the housing market for tenants, landlords, and those interested in becoming landlords.” (Sec. 128(35))
• $135,000 from the GFS for a study of “housing market conditions in tourism-dependent municipalities.” A report is due by Dec. 31, 2024. (Sec. 603(48))

Health and Human Services:

• $250,000 from the GFS for a “gap analysis of the existing housing and health care system.” A report is due by Dec. 1, 2024. (Sec. 208(11))
• $350,000 from the GFS for a study of “costs to the state, whether actual spending or foregone revenue collections, related to nonprofit health care providers, facilities, and insurers.” A report is due by Oct. 1, 2024. (Sec. 133(23))
• $100,000 from the GFS for the health care cost transparency board to study “regulatory approaches to encouraging compliance with the health care cost growth benchmark.” A report is due by Dec. 1, 2024. (Sec. 211(85)(b))
• $500,000 from the GFS for an evaluation of human service provider contracts, including whether contract structures “are adequate for sustaining the human services sector.” A report is due by June 30, 2025. (Sec. 131(8))
• $100,000 from the health care authority administrative account to study consolidating the Public Employees’ Benefits Board and the School Employees’ Benefits Board. A report is due by Dec. 1, 2024. (Sec. 212(8))

Public safety:

• $400,000 from the GFS for the Office of Financial Management to compile a report on vehicular pursuits, including recommendations on “what data should be collected by law enforcement agencies throughout the state so that the legislature and other policymakers have consistent and uniform information necessary to evaluate policies on vehicular pursuits.” The report is due by June 30, 2025. (Sec. 133(25))
• $1.0 million from the GFS for a pilot program responding to organized retail crime. A report is due by June 30, 2025. (Sec. 127(124))
• $400,000 from the performance audits of government account for a Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee review of the juvenile rehabilitation program’s staffing, services, communications with law enforcement, and the impacts of recent policy changes. A report is due June 30, 2026. (Sec. 103(8))
• $247,000 from the GFS for a task force to make recommendations for establishing a “comprehensive public health and community-based framework to combat extremism and mass violence.” A preliminary report is due June 1, 2025 and the final report is due Dec. 1, 2026. (Sec. 125(37))
• $200,000 of the GFS for a work group to “create a roadmap that provides a detailed pathway describing the steps necessary for insurance billing for domestic violence intervention treatment.” A report is due Dec. 31, 2024. (Sec. 127(137)(a))

Other:

• The budget creates a task force on the underground economy in the construction industry to make recommendations about what policy changes could be needed. A report is due by June 30, 2025. (Sec. 906)
• $300,000 from the GFS “to assess the need for and feasibility of a statewide low-income assistance program for water utility customers.” A report is due by June 30, 2025. (Sec. 222(150))
• $250,000 from the GFS for a task force on “integrating water, sewer, school, and port districts into the growth management act planning process.” A preliminary report is due June 30, 2025 and a final report is due by Dec. 1, 2025. (Sec. 128(34))
• $250,000 from the GFS to study “how other states regulate and permit agritourism.” A report is due by June 30, 2025. (Sec. 130(40))
• $125,000 from the GFS for a study of ranked choice voting, to include guidance for local jurisdictions. A report is due by June 1, 2025. (Sec. 602(105))