5077-S AMS KOHL BEZA 278

SSB 5077 - S AMD 361

By Senators Kohl-Welles, Hasegawa

WITHDRAWN 04/03/2015

    On page 186, after line 39, insert the following:

    "(10) $38,406,000 of the GET ready for college account is provided solely for the office to establish the Get ready for college program and to pay for the fifty dollar enrollment fee and for one GET unit to open a GET account on behalf of:

    (a) Every child born in Washington state after the effective date of this section; and

    (b) Any child born after the effective date of this section, who subsequently moves to Washington state and enrolls in a public school, if one or both of the child's parents or legal guardians have maintained a bona fide domicile in the state of Washington for at least one year.

    (2) In carrying out this duty in subsection (1), the office shall:

    (a) Develop and implement a process for establishing the accounts and account beneficiaries;

    (b) Establish rules for implementing the program;

    (c) Provide information to hospitals, clinics, physicians and nurse practitioners, birthing centers, community organizations, school districts, and institutions of higher education regarding the program, the state's offer to pay the enrollment fee to open an account, the one unit minimum purchase requirement, and the program benefits and limitations; and

    (d) Accept grants and donations from private sources to match state funds appropriated for the GET ready for college program.

    (3) It is the intent of the legislature that for children who have a GET account opened under the GET ready for college program shall have deposited into that account additional GET units upon the child reaching educational milestones. The office shall purchase GET units to be owned and held in trust by the office and distribute units to individual, personally owned accounts upon the child achieving the following:

    (a) Upon entry into kindergarten, ten units;

    (b) Upon completion of the fourth grade statewide academic assessments for reading, writing, and mathematics, twenty units. The child does not need to meet the state standard to receive the GET units;

    (c) Upon completion of the fifth grade, thirty units;

    (d) Upon completion of the eighth grade, forty units;

    (e) Upon completion of the ninth grade, fifteen units;

    (f) Upon completion of the tenth grade, fifteen units;

    (g) Upon completion of the eleventh grade, twenty units; and

    (h) Upon graduation from a Washington state public high school, fifty units.

    (4) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall enter into any necessary data-sharing agreements with the office to facilitate implementation of this section.

    (5) The office shall develop necessary forms, policies, and procedures to provide parents or guardians the ability to voluntarily waive any privacy rights to facilitate the exchange of personal information between the common schools and the office for implementation of this section."

    On page 221, after line 21, insert the following:

"General Fund: For transfer to the GET ready for college account, $19,203,000 in fiscal year 2016 and $19,203,000 in fiscal year 2017…….$38,406,000"

On page 234, after line 37, insert the following:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 925. A new section is added to chapter 28B.95 RCW to read as follows:

"The GET ready for college account is created in the custody of the state treasurer. The office shall deposit into the account all moneys received for the GET ready for college program from appropriations and private sources. Only the director of the office or the director's designee may authorize expenditures from the account. Expenditures from the account, not to exceed five percent, may be used by the office to carry out the provisions of this section. The account is subject to allotment procedures under chapter 43.88 RCW, but an appropriation is not required for expenditures."

EFFECT:  Establishes and implements the GET ready for college program. Funding is provided to pay for the fifty dollar enrollment fee and one GET unit for every child born after the effective date of the budget who is born or resides in Washington for more than one year. Expresses intent to pay for additional GET credits upon reaching certain milestones. Creates a new account.

FISCAL IMPACT: $38,406,000 General Fund-State increase. Note that the estimate is based on the current value of GET and not GET under ESSB 5954.

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