This bill amends existing tax law (RCW 82.04.449) to continue a tax credit for participants in the Washington customized employment training program equal to 50% of a participant’s payments to the employment training finance account (RCW 28B.67.030). It requires participants who fail to meet the condition in RCW 28B.67.020(2)(b)(ii) to remit the value of any credits taken plus interest to the department (the specific department is not named in the extracted text). Credits earned in one calendar year may be carried forward to later years, but no credit is allowed for repayment of training allowances received on or after July 1, 2031. Persons claiming the credit must file an annual tax performance report under RCW 82.32.534. The amended RCW 82.04.449 section is set to expire July 1, 2033. The bill also amends reporting and performance review requirements. By December 31, 2028 the college board must report to the legislature’s higher education committees on county-level distributions of credit eligibility and of qualified training institutions, and on efforts to broaden industry and institution participation. It adds a tax preference performance statement categorizing the preference as a “general purpose” preference under RCW 82.32.808(2)(f), states the public policy objective to provide customized workforce training and to retain and expand existing Washington businesses, expresses legislative intent to extend the preference’s expiration if a review finds 75% of participating businesses complete training and repay the program loan, and authorizes the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee to use state-collected data in performing that review. The bill includes legislative findings referencing a 75% completion/repayment statement, but supporting data or earlier legislative context are not included in the extracted facts. This is a modification of existing tax and reporting law (not a criminal law change): it alters tax credit eligibility and carryforward rules, adds repayment and interest obligations for failures to meet program conditions, establishes reporting deadlines, sets an expiration date, and creates a performance-review mechanism tied to a possible extension. The extracted text omits several specifics: the chapter number cited for a 2025 session law is blank, the exact department that receives remitted credits and reports is not named, the text of the referenced RCW subsections and definitions are not included, and while JLARC is authorized to use data, the extracted facts do not unambiguously state who formally conducts the 75% completion/repayment review.

If enacted, businesses that use the Washington customized employment training program will continue to get a tax credit equal to half of what they pay into the program’s training finance account, and unused credit can be carried forward, but credits stop applying to repayments received on or after July 1, 2031. Participating businesses will face an ongoing filing requirement (an annual tax performance report) and a real risk that if they fail to meet the program’s participation condition they must pay back the credit plus interest, so they will keep tax savings only while meeting program rules and bear potential repayment costs if they do not. Colleges and training providers will face a new reporting task: the college board must report to the Legislature by December 31, 2028 on where participants and training institutions are located and on outreach efforts, and the Legislature (through JLARC using state data) will review program performance against a 75% completion/repayment goal before deciding whether to extend the preference. The tax preference language also expires July 1, 2033. It is unclear from the provided text which specific state department receives the remitted credits and reports, and the bill does not include the detailed eligibility wording or the formal review procedure beyond authorizing JLARC to use state-collected data.