WHAT: The Senate Higher Education & Workforce Development Committee will hear legislation creating a means for holders of Guaranteed Education Tuition (GET) accounts to directly share in investment gains that the program experienced in recent years.
WHEN: 8 a.m. Tuesday in Senate Hearing Room 2, Cherberg Building
WATCH IT LIVE: https://www.tvw.org/watch/?eventID=2018011168
SUMMARY:
- The GET program helps families save and prepare for their children’s higher education needs. Families can purchase individual units valued at 1/100th of the cost of one year of college tuition and fees that are guaranteed to keep pace with tuition and state-mandated fees at Washington’s highest-priced public university.
- Funds generated through the sale of GET units are invested by the state acting as fiduciary, but state policy in recent years unintentionally led to greater-than-anticipated gains. GET units currently are valued at $103.86 per unit in tuition value. However, when funds on hand are compared against the GET program’s obligations, the actual cash value of an individual GET unit is approximately $144.
- Senate Bill 6087, sponsored by Sen. Mark Mullet, D-Issaquah, would return those gains to GET account holders, giving them six months to redeem units for the cash value and roll the amount into Washington’s 529 college savings program.
- A hypothetical family that opts to redeem 100 GET units for the cash value would be able to roll nearly $14,400 into Washington’s 529 college savings program, directly realizing some $4,014 in gains.
QUOTE:
- Sen. Mark Mullet, D-Issaquah: “State policy led to an unplanned surplus in the GET program, but that money belongs to Washington families and so does any gain realized on it. We should give those returns back to those families and give them the flexibility they need to make the choices about saving for higher education that work best for them.”
