The bill creates a new state account called the encouraging achieving a better life experience (ENABLE) account in the custody of the state treasurer and establishes rules for deposits and expenditures for the Washington achieving a better life experience (ABLE) program. Allowable deposits include legislative appropriations and transfers, federal funds, public or private donations, gifts, grants, and other lawful sources. It establishes a priority order for spending from the ENABLE account: up to $250,000 or 0.25% of the account balance on July 1st of each fiscal year, whichever is less, for administrative and promotional expenses that year; reducing or eliminating administrative or investment fees charged against individual Washington ABLE accounts up to $50 per account annually; a one‑time $1,000 deposit to each individual Washington ABLE account in existence on July 1, 2025; and a one‑time $1,000 deposit to each new ABLE account opened in Washington after July 1, 2025 or existing accounts rolled into a Washington account after that date. Only the director of the Washington ABLE governing board or the board’s designee may authorize ENABLE expenditures. The ENABLE account is subject to allotment procedures under chapter 43.88 RCW and an appropriation is not required for expenditures. If a deposit from the ENABLE account would cause an individual to exceed the applicable IRS contribution limit, the individual may defer the ENABLE deposit for up to two years. The bill also amends RCW 43.330.464 to clarify investment authority and administrative responsibilities for the program. The governing board may elect to have the state investment board or an investment manager invest program account money and grants them full investment powers; investment and operating costs for such investments are paid pursuant to RCW 43.33A.160 and 43.84.160, otherwise earnings are retained by the account. After consultation with the governing board, the state investment board or manager may elect to invest self‑directed accounts and must provide self‑directed options that comply with section 529A of the Internal Revenue Code. Except for the ENABLE fee reduction described above, costs for self‑directed investments must be paid by eligible individuals and recovered under agreed procedures. The governing board must keep full accounts and records for each individual account, account for and report self‑directed assets (or contract for that service), handle trade instruction and settlement activities, contract with and manage recordkeepers and outside investment firms, and contract with an organization to promote account opening and contributions; if a contracted recordkeeper or outside firm can perform promotional functions, the governing board may revise contracts for that purpose without using the competitive process under chapter 39.26 RCW. The governing board will designate custodial bank engagement terms under delegated authority from the state treasurer with Office of Financial Management concurrence. Investments by the state investment board must follow RCW 43.33A.140 and the board’s investment policy, money may be commingled for investment, and investment managers must routinely consult with the governing board. The bill specifies that moneys in the ENABLE account may be spent only for the purposes of the Washington ABLE program. This bill creates a new statutory account and amends existing law (RCW 43.330.464), making procedural and administrative changes to program investment and spending authority; it does not create any new crimes or penalties. The extracted text does not state the specific new section number added to chapter 43.330 RCW, the composition or statutory creation details of “the governing board,” the precise IRS contribution limit amount that might trigger a deferral, the full federal statute text referenced in the legislative findings, or any initial funding amounts beyond those uses described.

If enacted, the state will create a central ENABLE account managed by the state treasurer that will be used first to pay limited administrative and promotional costs, then to reduce or eliminate up to $50 a year in fees for individual Washington ABLE accounts, and to make one-time $1,000 deposits into each existing ABLE account on July 1, 2025 and into new or rolled-over Washington accounts opened after that date. Eligible account holders who would exceed IRS contribution limits because of an ENABLE deposit can defer that deposit for up to two years, and a separate federal change raising the onset age to 46 in January 2026 could enlarge the pool of eligible people and therefore increase how many accounts receive these benefits. The governing board and its director (or designee) will hold the practical authority to approve spending, run the program’s recordkeeping, contracting, promotion, and investment arrangements, and may hire the State Investment Board or outside managers to handle investments; administrative spending is capped annually at $250,000 or 0.25% of the account balance and expenditures use allotment procedures so no new legislative appropriation is required. Key uncertainties that affect actual costs and risks are not provided in the extracted facts: the bill does not show who sits on the governing board, the precise IRS contribution limit referenced, the new statute’s exact placement in chapter 43.330 RCW, or how much initial funding will be available, so the total fiscal impact and operational details remain unclear.