Citizen Portal
Sign In

Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!

Committee Hears Plan to Create Pre-K Promise Account to Scale ECAP Slots

Washington State Senate Ways and Means Committee · January 19, 2026
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

A Senate Ways and Means public hearing heard support for Senate Bill 5,872, which would create a state ‘pre-k promise account’ to accept philanthropic funds to expand the ECAP preschool program; testimony highlighted a 10-year Ballmer Group commitment to add seats gradually.

Senators heard testimony Jan. 19 on Senate Bill 5,872, which would establish a “pre-k promise account” in the state treasury to receive gifts, grants and donations for the state’s ECAP preschool program and allow the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) to authorize expenditures under state allotment procedures. Committee staff said a fiscal note was not yet available but creation of the account was expected to have little fiscal impact.

Andy Smith, executive director of the Ballmer Group, said the philanthropic…

Already have an account? Log in

Subscribe to keep reading

Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.

  • Unlimited articles
  • AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
  • Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
  • Follow topics and more locations
  • 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
30-day money-back on paid plans