This bill creates a new Washington education savings account program called the empowerED scholarship program, established as a new chapter in Title 28A RCW and administered by the Student Achievement Council. It requires parents to sign written agreements with the council and restricts scholarship funds to qualified education-related expenses; accounts are parent-accessible, may be managed by contracted account managers (including a state-managed debit card), may earn interest, and are subject to audit by the state auditor and an independent accounting firm. The council must adopt rules, deposit scholarship amounts into participating students’ accounts from an empowerED scholarship program account held by the state treasurer, report annually to the Legislature by November 1, and prioritize awards to returning participants, siblings, students with disabilities, low-income households, and students in designated low-performing public schools. The act creates program funding mechanisms and changes related financial law: it reenacts and amends RCW 43.79A.040 to include the empowerED scholarship program account among accounts receiving treasury earnings and establishes a 100 percent tax credit, beginning January 1, 2026, against business taxes under chapters 82.04 and 82.16 RCW for contributions to the program or account. The bill sets a maximum scholarship amount formula ($12,700 for students without disabilities; an additional amount for students with disabilities calculated using a special education cost multiplier), adjusts maximums annually for inflation beginning fiscal year 2026, and prescribes income-based award percentages and procedural rules for tax-credit applications, a $300 million annual cap on credits (with rules for first-come approvals, payment deadlines, forfeiture, and limited carryforward), while noting that the administering “department” is not identified in the available text. The act also amends RCW 28A.225.350 to set protocols for best-interest determinations for students subject to dependency proceedings and places certain sections (including one that expires July 1, 2030 and another that takes effect July 1, 2030) on time-limited schedules. Important details are missing from the provided excerpts: the full list of qualified expenses is incomplete, some sections are truncated, the identity of the department that processes tax-credit applications is not stated here, and full implementation procedures and some referenced sections (including the complete text of the tax credit application rules and parts of the reenacted RCW text) are not included.

If enacted, the state would create an empowerED scholarship program that puts public scholarship dollars into parent-accessible education savings accounts managed under the Student Achievement Council, with a state-managed debit card and audit oversight. Eligible families—prioritizing students with disabilities, low-income families, and students from chronically underperforming schools—could receive scholarships up to set maximums ($12,700 for most students, a higher formula for students with disabilities) scaled by family income and adjusted for inflation beginning in fiscal year 2026. Parents must sign agreements to withdraw or not enroll their child in public school and may only use funds for defined education expenses; accounts may earn interest, incur reasonable management fees, and are subject to state audits and annual program reporting. This creates new responsibilities and choices: parents gain an alternative funding stream for private or home-based education but must document eligible spending and manage account agreements; the Student Achievement Council must administer deposits, rulemaking, contracting for account management, audits, and reporting; private schools may receive scholarship students without being treated as government agents. Funding comes from legislative appropriations and a new 100% tax credit for business contributions starting January 1, 2026, with a first-come application process, an annual $300 million credit cap (with a possible 10% increase rule), and timing rules (applications not before the second Monday in January; approved contributions due by November 15). Important implementation specifics are missing from the provided text—most notably the full list of qualified expenses, the agency named to run the tax-credit application process, and some administrative details and timelines—so exact costs to the state and operational procedures remain uncertain.