HB 1285 Washington House · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Making financial education instruction a graduation requirement in public schools.

HB 1285 establishes financial education instruction as a graduation requirement for public high school students in Washington state. Beginning in the 2027-28 school year, all high schools must provide instruction in the state financial education learning standards. Starting with the graduating class of 2031, students will be required to meet these standards to graduate. The bill also tasks the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction with making instructional materials available and outlines monitoring responsibilities for the State Board of Education.

Issues: ✓ Education

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Feb 2025

House Passage

Mar 2025

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 12, 2026 Last action Jan 12, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Substitute Bill → Second Substitute Bill · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was renumbered and transferred from the House Education committee to the House Appropriations committee, with the reading date updated to reflect this change. The most significant substantive change is the removal of a requirement for school districts to submit a detailed list of existing financial education courses and student counts before a statewide implementation plan is created. The new version simplifies the process by having the public-private partnership immediately develop the implementation plan without waiting for district data, while retaining the deadline for submitting the plan and the overall expiration date of the act.

Scope change

The bill's scope regarding the initial data collection phase was narrowed; the requirement for school districts to submit a list of current financial education offerings and student numbers was removed.

TIMELINE

The deadline for school districts to submit a list of financial education courses and student counts was removed entirely.

REQUIREMENT

The requirement for the financial education public-private partnership to analyze district submissions before creating a statewide implementation plan was removed.

TECHNICAL

The bill was renumbered from Substitute House Bill 1285 to Second Substitute House Bill 1285.

The sponsoring committee was changed from House Education to House Appropriations, and the first reading date was updated from February 20 to February 28, 2025.

Floor votes · House Mar 5, 2025

How they voted

96–3

Passed · 1 other

Total votes 100

Mar 5, 2025

D Democratic61

58 Yea 2 Nay 1

95% Yea

R Republican39

38 Yea 1 Nay

97% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Jan 12, 2026

Introduced

By resolution, reintroduced and retained in present status.

lower

Mar 5, 2025

House · Passed

House Vote: pass (96-3-1)

house

Feb 28, 2025

Committee

Referred to Rules 2 Review.

lower

Feb 28, 2025

Lower · Passed

Executive action taken in the House Committee on Appropriations at 9:00 AM.

lower

Feb 26, 2025

Lower · Passed

Public hearing in the House Committee on Appropriations at 1:30 PM.

lower

Feb 20, 2025

Committee

Referred to Appropriations.

lower

Feb 17, 2025

Lower · Passed

Executive action taken in the House Committee on Education at 1:30 PM.

lower

Feb 6, 2025

Lower · Passed

Executive session scheduled, but no action was taken in the House Committee on Education at 8:00 AM.

lower

Jan 30, 2025

Lower · Passed

Executive session scheduled, but no action was taken in the House Committee on Education at 8:00 AM.

lower

Jan 23, 2025

Lower · Passed

Public hearing in the House Committee on Education at 8:00 AM.

lower

1 primary · 31 co-sponsors