Public interest law grants

AN ACT Relating to establishing a public interest law grant 1
program, a program account, and a business and occupation tax credit 2
for approved contributions to the program account; adding a new 3
section to chapter 28B.77 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 82.04 4
RCW; creating new sections; and providing expiration dates.5
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:6
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The legislature finds that the 7
constitutional right to a lawyer is enshrined in the sixth amendment 8
to the United States Constitution, and the United States supreme 9
court case of Gideon v. Wainright . Washington state superior court 10
criminal rule 3.1 further protects that right. The state supreme 11
court issued Order 25700-A-1644 requiring new caseload standards for 12
public defenders. The order states that the new caseload standards 13
cannot exceed 47 felony cases for each full-time lawyer, and no more 14
than 120 cases for each full-time lawyer handling misdemeanors, among 15
similar requirements for those handling civil commitment cases. The 16
court requires that these standards be met no later than 10 years 17
from January 1, 2026.18
(2) The legislature also finds that the state as well as local 19
governments have been struggling to ensure that public defense is 20
adequately funded, even prior to the court's order. Prosecutors are 21
H-2510.2
HOUSE BILL 2162
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Representatives Richards, Couture, Simmons, Reed, Zahn, and Graham
Prefiled 12/17/25. Read first time 01/12/26. Referred to Committee
on Civil Rights & Judiciary.
p. 1 HB 2162
also struggling with funding and filling positions within their 1
offices. Public safety already demands that defendants have access to 2
a free lawyer within days if they qualify, otherwise those defendants 3
are released within days if no lawyer is assigned, as widely 4
reported. Additionally, any delays in the criminal process because of 5
a lack of access to defense or because prosecutors are overwhelmed is 6
an injustice to victims, survivors, and the public at large, since 7
criminal cases are brought on behalf of the public.8
(3) The legislature further finds that the court's order requires 9
not only greater investment in public defense, but that funding alone 10
will not train and retain the lawyers required to meet the necessary 11
standards. Washington needs new lawyers to comply with the court's 12
orders and the state needs assistance from those institutions tasked 13
with training and hiring lawyers to meet these standards.14
(4) The legislature finds, as a matter of public interest, the 15
legal profession needs a greater incentive to change and to direct 16
more attention and focus to filling public interest roles in the 17
offices of prosecutors and public defenders. New and innovative 18
solutions are required to meet this challenge and to comply with the 19
court's order. It is the legislature's intent to take such actions as 20
necessary to build upon existing programs and incentives to do so. 21
There are already existing public interest loan forgiveness programs 22
offered at the federal level. Additional student loan relief and the 23
prospect of paying off loans faster is a widely known and accepted 24
form of incentive to engage professionals in public positions, 25
including in the offices of prosecutors and public defenders.26
(5) Therefore, it is the intent of the legislature to address the 27
court's order by creating a grant program to assist new lawyers 28
working in prosecutorial and public defender roles with paying off 29
student loans to encourage and retain lawyers in highly needed public 30
service positions. In order to fund these grants, the legislature 31
intends to offer a tax credit to law firms for contributions to the 32
account that funds the grant program, thereby encouraging established 33
lawyers to help cultivate the next generation of lawyers in the state 34
of Washington. 35
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 28B.77 36
RCW to read as follows: 37
(1) The public interest law program is created. The purpose of 38
the public interest law program is to provide lawyers who work in 39
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public service for a minimum of one year as a prosecutor or a public 1
defender with annual student loan payoff grants up to $10,000 after 2
each year of public service is complete. The program is funded 3
through contributions from eligible law firms to the public interest 4
law account. Eligible law firms receive a business and occupation tax 5
credit equal to the amount contributed, up to $20,000 annually.6
(2) The council must administer the public interest law program 7
and award grants. In administering the program, the council must:8
(a) Adopt necessary rules and guidelines, including creating an 9
application and annual reapplication requirements;10
(b) Approve applicants and select eligible lawyers from the 11
applicant pool; 12
(c) Verify any information required by the council to be 13
submitted by the applicant; 14
(d) Accept contributions from law firms for the program; and15
(e) Publicize the program. 16
(3) The council must begin developing the program no later than 17
December 31, 2026, and issue the first grants, if funds are 18
available, no later than July 1, 2027. 19
(4) The council must provide an approved contribution receipt to 20
each eligible law firm within 30 days of the firm's contribution to 21
the fund to facilitate the implementation of the tax credit 22
established in section 3 of this act. The receipt must indicate the 23
amount contributed to the account by the law firm and provide a 24
history of all previous contributions listed by contribution date.25
(5) The public interest law program account is created in the 26
state treasury. All receipts from private contributions and state 27
appropriations must be deposited into the account. Expenditures from 28
the account may only be used for the operation of the public interest 29
law program and grants to eligible lawyers. 30
(6) Grants to eligible lawyers must be awarded as equal grants up 31
to $10,000 to each eligible lawyer working as a prosecutor or in 32
public defense, subject to the availability of funds.33
(7) By January 1, 2028, and every year thereafter, the council 34
and the department of revenue must submit a joint report to the 35
legislature that provides: 36
(a) The ending account balance; 37
(b) The number of: 38
(i) Applicants and approved applicants; 39
(ii) Grants awarded and the average grant amounts;40
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(iii) Public defender and prosecutor grant recipients by 1
category; 2
(iv) Participating law firms and their contribution amounts; and3
(v) Tax credits claimed. 4
(8) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the following 5
definitions apply: 6
(a) "Applicant" means an eligible lawyer applying for a grant 7
under the public interest law program established in this section.8
(b) "Contribution" means a cash contribution. 9
(c) "Eligible law firm" means a law firm that contributes to the 10
public interest law program account. 11
(d) "Eligible lawyer" means a public lawyer serving as a 12
prosecutor or a public defender contracted through the office of 13
public defense for a minimum of a year who submits an approved 14
application to the council for participation in the public interest 15
law program. 16
(e) "Law firm" means lawyers who practice law together in a 17
partnership, professional corporation, sole proprietorship, limited 18
liability company, or association; and lawyers employed in a legal 19
services organization, or the legal department of a corporation or 20
other organization. 21
(9) This section expires December 31, 2038. 22
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 82.04 23
RCW to read as follows: 24
(1) Beginning January 1, 2027, a credit is allowed against the 25
tax imposed under this chapter for approved contributions that are 26
made by a person to the public interest law program account for the 27
public interest law program. 28
(2) The credit allowed under this section is equal to the total 29
amount of contributions made by a person to the public interest law 30
program account up to a maximum of $20,000 per calendar year.31
(3) The credit claimed may not exceed the tax that would 32
otherwise be due under this chapter. Refunds may not be granted in 33
the place of credits. Any amount of credit earned under this section 34
not claimed by the taxpayer in one calendar year may be carried 35
forward for no more than one calendar year immediately following the 36
year that the credit was earned. 37
p. 4 HB 2162
(4) No application is necessary for the tax credit. The person 1
receiving the tax credit must keep records necessary for the 2
department to verify eligibility under this section.3
(5) To claim a credit under this section, a person must 4
electronically file with the department all returns, forms, the 5
approved contribution receipt required in section 2 of this act, and 6
other information the department requires in an electronic format as 7
provided or approved by the department. Any return, form, or 8
information required to be filed in an electronic format under this 9
section is not filed until received by the department in an 10
electronic format. As used in this section, "returns" has the same 11
meaning as "return" in RCW 82.32.050. 12
(6) Chapter 82.32 RCW applies to the administration of this 13
section. 14
(7) No credit may be earned for contributions made after December 15
31, 2038. 16
(8) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the following 17
definitions apply: 18
(a) "Contribution" means a cash contribution. 19
(b) "Eligible law firm" means a law firm that contributes to the 20
public interest law program account. 21
(c) "Eligible lawyer" means a public lawyer serving as a 22
prosecutor or a public defender contracted through the office of 23
public defense for a minimum of a year who submits an approved 24
application to the council for participation in the public interest 25
law program created in section 2 of this act. 26
(d) "Law firm" means lawyers who practice law together in a 27
partnership, professional corporation, sole proprietorship, limited 28
liability company, or association; and lawyers employed in a legal 29
services organization, or the legal department of a corporation or 30
other organization. 31
(e) "Person" means an eligible law firm. 32
(f) "Public interest law program account" means the public 33
interest law program account established in section 2 of this act.34
(9) This section expires December 31, 2038. 35
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. (1) This section is the tax preference 36
performance statement for the tax preference contained in section 3, 37
chapter . . ., Laws of 2026 (section 3 of this act). This performance 38
statement is only intended to be used for subsequent evaluation of 39
p. 5 HB 2162
the tax preference. It is not intended to create a private right of 1
action by any party or to be used to determine eligibility for 2
preferential tax treatment. 3
(2) The legislature categorizes this tax preference as one 4
intended to provide tax relief for certain businesses or individuals, 5
as indicated in RCW 82.32.808(2)(e). 6
(3) It is the legislature's specific public policy objective to 7
provide reduced tax liability for law firms that contribute to the 8
public interest law program account and public interest law program 9
in order to alleviate the student loan burden on lawyers working as 10
prosecutors, public defenders, and in public service.11
(4) If a review finds that after the effective date of this tax 12
preference the number of participants in the public interest law 13
program increases by any amount from the previous calendar year and 14
the amount of grants distributed to eligible lawyers exceeds an 15
annual average of $100,000 for the duration of the program's 16
existence, then the legislature intends to extend the expiration date 17
of this tax preference. 18
(5) In order to obtain the data necessary to perform the review 19
in subsection (4) of this section, the joint legislative audit and 20
review committee may refer to any data collected by the state.21
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