This bill adds a United States Naval Academy special license plate and amends several existing statutes to create and fund a new veterans stewardship account. It modifies RCW 46.17.220 to list the United States Naval Academy plate with an initial fee of $40 and a renewal fee of $30, amends RCW 46.18.200 to require the department to approve and issue the plate and to describe its artwork, and amends RCW 46.68.425 and RCW 43.60A.140 to govern collection, administrative deductions, remittance, and accounting of plate fee proceeds. The department may deduct up to $12 from initial issuance fees and up to $2 from renewal fees for administration, remit remaining proceeds to the state treasurer, and credit funds to designated accounts once implementation costs are recovered. The act creates a veterans stewardship account in the custody of the state treasurer, requires that all receipts from the sale of armed forces license plates, United States Naval Academy plates, and Purple Heart plates be deposited into that account, and authorizes the department to request and accept nondedicated contributions, grants, or gifts. Moneys in the veterans stewardship account must be used for activities that benefit veterans and their families, including programs and services for homeless veterans, establishing memorials honoring veterans, and maintaining state veterans’ cemeteries; funds may not be used to supplant existing departmental funds. Funds are subject to chapter 43.88 RCW and may be expended without a separate appropriation. The bill adds a definition of "United States Naval Academy license plates" to chapter 46.04 RCW and takes effect November 1, 2025. The changes are a mix of new provisions and amendments to existing law: creation of a new special plate and a new veterans stewardship account (new law elements), and procedural and fiscal amendments to fee collection, remittance, and account crediting under existing vehicle and treasury statutes. The bill text in the provided extracts does not name the specific department referenced, omits the full text of RCW 43.60A.140(4) that would fully describe authorized disbursements, and does not include the new section language referenced as being added to chapter 46.04 RCW.

If enacted, Washington would add a United States Naval Academy specialty license plate that vehicle owners can buy for a $40 initial fee and $30 renewal; the department that issues specialty plates may deduct up to $12 from initial and $2 from renewal fees for administration, then remits the remainder to the state treasurer. Receipts from the armed forces plate collection, the new Naval Academy plate, and Purple Heart plates must be deposited into a newly created veterans stewardship account, and those funds may be used by the department for veteran-related activities such as homeless veteran programs, memorials, and maintenance of state veterans’ cemeteries; spending is allowed without a separate appropriation but may not replace existing departmental funding. The people most affected are veterans and their families (who stand to benefit from new, dedicated funding), vehicle owners who choose these specialty plates (who pay the stated fees), and the state agency that issues plates (which takes on issuance, accounting, and fund-management duties and may accept grants or donations into the account). The attorney general’s identity of “the department” and some specific allocation rules referenced elsewhere are not included in the extracted text, so exact administrative responsibilities and the full list of permitted uses are partly unclear.