Washington Senate Bill SB5872

Washington 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/12/26
• Refer: 1/12/26
• Report Pass: 2/3/26
• Engrossed: 2/11/26
• Refer: 2/14/26
• Report Pass: 2/27/26
• Refer: 3/2/26
• Enrolled: 3/9/26
• Chaptered: 3/14/26
• Passed: 3/14/26

Caption

AN ACT Relating to establishing the preK promise account;

Summary

SB 5872 establishes a dedicated “preK promise account” in the state treasury to support Washington’s early childhood education and assistance program. The account is limited to use for that program and may receive gifts, grants, and donations. The Secretary of the Department of Children, Youth, and Families is given authority to authorize expenditures from the account, and receipts must be tracked separately by donor or depositing entity. The bill also specifies that money in the account may be invested and that any remaining balance does not revert to the general fund at the end of the biennium. The bill also amends state treasury and investment provisions so the preK promise account is included among the accounts that receive a proportional share of investment earnings. It clarifies how the state treasurer may manage and distribute earnings from the treasury trust fund and related accounts, and it adds the new account to the list of funds that are entitled to earnings based on average daily balances. The act contains an emergency clause for immediate effect, while one section is set to expire later and another section takes effect on a future date, indicating a mix of immediate operational changes and time-limited provisions.

Impact

SB 5872 changes Washington law by creating a new dedicated treasury account and adjusting statutory investment and earnings-distribution rules to include that account. It affects RCW provisions governing the state treasurer’s trust fund, investment income, and the allocation of earnings to specified state accounts. The practical effect is to create a protected funding stream for the early childhood education and assistance program, while also requiring separate accounting for private contributions and preventing unspent balances from reverting to the general fund.

Sentiment

The bill appears to have broad bipartisan support and little visible opposition. It passed the Senate Ways & Means Committee 21-1, the Senate floor 46-3, the House Appropriations Committee 29-0, and the House floor 95-0. That voting pattern suggests strong agreement on the policy goal of supporting early childhood education and on the fiscal/accounting structure used to do so.

Contention

There is no committee transcript in the provided materials, so specific arguments for or against the bill are not available. The only notable point of potential contention is the bill’s fiscal structure: it creates a dedicated account outside the general fund, allows expenditures without a separate appropriation, and directs investment earnings to a long list of accounts, which can raise questions about fund management and revenue allocation. However, the recorded votes show no substantial legislative resistance to these features.