Washington HB 1279: Eliminating the joint legislative oversight committee on trade policy.

Bill Text

CERTIFICATION OF ENROLLMENT
ENGROSSED HOUSE BILL 1279
Chapter 82, Laws of 2025
69th Legislature
2025 Regular Session
POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION—CONSUMER PROTECTION—VARIOUS PROVISIONS
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 27, 2025
Passed by the House March 7, 2025
Yeas 94 Nays 0
LAURIE JINKINS
Speaker of the House of
Representatives
Passed by the Senate April 11, 2025
Yeas 48 Nays 0
DENNY HECK
President of the Senate
CERTIFICATE
I, Bernard Dean, Chief Clerk of the
House of Representatives of the
State of Washington, do hereby
certify that the attached is
ENGROSSED HOUSE BILL 1279 as passed
by the House of Representatives and
the Senate on the dates hereon set
forth.
BERNARD DEAN
Chief Clerk
Approved April 21, 2025 9:22 AM FILED
April 21, 2025
BOB FERGUSON
Governor of the State of Washington
Secretary of State
State of Washington

AN ACT Relating to postsecondary education consumer protections; 1
amending RCW 28B.85.020, 28B.85.070, 28B.85.090, and 28B.85.095; 2
adding a new section to chapter 28B.85 RCW; and creating a new 3
section.4
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:5
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that the Washington 6
state attorney general and the attorneys general of 24 other states 7
and the District of Columbia have found that online or distance 8
education entities pose unique risks to student consumers. These 9
risks may harm both students and the taxpayers in students' home 10
states. The Washington state attorney general, along with the 11
attorneys general of 24 other states and the District of Columbia, 12
have urged the national council for the state authorization 13
reciprocity agreement to reform the standards of state authorization 14
reciprocity agreements. The national council for state authorization 15
reciprocity agreements is not directly accountable to participating 16
states and has had significant potential for conflict of interest.17
According to the joint letter from the offices of the attorneys 18
general, the national council for state authorization reciprocity 19
agreements' current policies "do not adequately guard against the 20
unique risks that arise from distance learning. For instance, NC-21
ENGROSSED HOUSE BILL 1279
Passed Legislature - 2025 Regular Session
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Representatives Pollet, Leavitt, Doglio, Reed, and Simmons
Read first time 01/14/25. Referred to Committee on Postsecondary
Education & Workforce.
p. 1 EHB 1279.SL

SARA's policy prohibiting member states from enforcing education-1
specific consumer protection laws against out-of-state NC-SARA 2
participating schools undermines our Offices' and other state 3
agencies' ability to protect students in our states. It also creates 4
a two-tiered system of protection, in which students attending NC-5
SARA-participating schools receive the benefit of fewer consumer 6
protection laws than students attending schools based in our state or 7
attending schools that do not participate in NC-SARA. This 8
incentivizes NC-SARA participating schools to locate in states with 9
weaker education-specific consumer protection laws, such as financial 10
protections in the event of unanticipated closure, to avoid having to 11
comply with more student-protective laws. Our conversations with some 12
of the representatives of state entities that enforce NC-SARA rules 13
showed that they share this concern."14
The legislature finds that Washington has led the western 15
interstate commission for higher education to adopt proposed reforms 16
to state authorization reciprocity agreements and intends to 17
encourage the student achievement council and the western interstate 18
commission for higher education to continue this effort through this 19
act. It is the objective of the legislature to ensure that the state 20
authorization reciprocity agreement is reformed to recognize that 21
student consumer protections adopted through legislation or rule in 22
Washington protect all students residing in Washington through the 23
adoption of this act while providing institutions domiciled in 24
Washington the benefits of reciprocal approval or authorization to 25
offer programs in other states after meeting Washington's rigorous 26
review and approval or authorization standards.27
The legislature does not intend for this act to imply that the 28
existing legislatively adopted student consumer protections do not 29
provide protection to students in Washington while Washington engages 30
in efforts to reform the state authorization reciprocity agreement.31
Sec. 2. RCW 28B.85.020 and 2013 c 218 s 3 are each amended to 32
read as follows:33
(1) The council:34
(a) Shall adopt by rule, in accordance with chapter 34.05 RCW, 35
minimum standards for degree-granting institutions concerning 36
granting of degrees, quality of education, unfair business practices, 37
financial stability, and other necessary measures to protect citizens 38
of this state against substandard, fraudulent, or