Third Substitute House Bill 1662 (69th Legislature, 2026 Regular Session) removes the requirement that four named education entities be administratively housed in the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and provides for their transition to independent administration. The bill adds new sections and amends multiple RCWs (including amendments and new sections affecting chapters 28A.305, 28A.410, 28A.300, and 28A.710 RCW and specific statutes RCW 28A.305.130, 28A.300.020, 28A.410.200, 28A.300.450, and 28A.710.070) to support operational independence for the State Board of Education, the Washington Professional Educator Standards Board, the Washington financial education public-private partnership, and the Washington State Charter School Commission. The change is primarily procedural and organizational: it transfers reports, records, tangible property, funds, credits, appropriations, contracts, and employees previously held or managed by OSPI to the respective independent boards/partnership/commission on the effective dates. The Director of Financial Management is directed to resolve allocation and apportionment questions and certify transfers; affected agencies, the state auditor, and the state treasurer must make the certified transfers and adjustments. Boards and bodies may hire executive directors and staff, delegate duties to executive directors, and in some instances exempt those positions from chapter 41.06 RCW (civil service); membership, appointment, term, vacancy, and governance rules for the professional educator board, the partnership, and the charter commission are specified or restated in the amended text. The Office of Financial Management must begin coordinating transition supports in July 2026, OSPI must provide administrative services through the 2027 fiscal year, and Sections 3–12 take effect July 1, 2027. The act includes a funding contingency: if specific funding for the act is not included in the omnibus appropriations act by June 30, 2026, the act is null and void. Some excerpts are incomplete in the provided text: portions of amended RCW 28A.305.130 cut off mid-sentence, full amended language for several cited RCWs is not included, and a few membership and appointment details for the financial education partnership and other sections are partial, so those specifics could not be fully summarized from the available material.

If enacted, four education entities—the State Board of Education, the Washington Professional Educator Standards Board, the financial education public-private partnership, and the Washington State Charter School Commission—will move out of the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction and operate as independent state agencies beginning July 1, 2027. In practice this means each agency will take custody of its records, funds, contracts, and staff (with classified employees transferred without loss of rights), hire its own executive director and staff, arrange for separate administrative services (for example through the Department of Enterprise Services, the attorney general, and the state auditor), and gain direct control over budgets and contracting while OFM coordinates the transition starting July 2026 and OSPI continues providing administrative services through the 2027 fiscal year. The groups most affected are those four agencies, OSPI, OFM/DFM, DES small agency services, the state auditor, the attorney general, and the state treasurer; responsibilities for payroll, contracts, and budget apportionments will shift from OSPI to the new agencies, creating likely startup and administrative costs and new management duties for the agencies that become independent. The statute makes transfers and funding adjustments subject to DFM certification and requires specific funding in the omnibus appropriations by June 30, 2026 or the act is void, so the actual fiscal impact and precise operational steps (including some statutory language that is incomplete in the excerpts) remain uncertain.