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WASAC staff brief advisory board on bills to require FAFSA proof and limit WASFA data retention
Summary
WASAC legislative staff briefed the advisory board on Senate Bill 5841 (require proof of FAFSA/WASFA completion in High School and Beyond plan) and House Bill 2132 (limits on retention/disclosure of personally identifying information on WASFA). WASAC is providing technical feedback and expects amendments; staff said agency customarily takes no formal position on non-agency-request bills.
WASAC’s legislative staff updated the advisory board on two bills that could affect FAFSA/WASFA implementation.
Joel Anderson, associate director of legislative and external affairs at WASAC, described Senate Bill 5841 as a proposal that would require proof of a completed FAFSA or WASFA to be submitted as part of a student’s High School and Beyond plan. He said the bill is in the Senate Early Learning and K–12 Committee and was scheduled for executive session on Thursday, Jan. 22; staff expect an amendment to change verification language. Joel said WASAC is providing technical feedback to committee staff to help ensure any requirement would be implementable and to identify integration costs and verification approaches.
Board members raised practical concerns. A school counselor described current local practice of uploading screenshots of FAFSA confirmation as evidence and warned that requiring verification could increase counselors’ workload and create complications for undocumented students. Board members also noted historical context: one member said the bill’s Louisiana example had been repealed there. Joel and other WASAC staff said the agency has not taken a formal position on universal FAFSA bills (unless they are agency-request legislation) but is actively engaged with staff for technical input.
Joel also described House Bill 2132 from Representative Levitt, which seeks to standardize the disclosure, retention and purging of personally identifying information submitted on the WASFA; he said that bill was in executive session in the House Higher Education Committee at the time of the meeting and that WASAC has provided feedback intended to protect student data while allowing necessary data retention for degree completion tracking.
Ben Mitchell of the Foundation for Tacoma Students offered public comment in support of leveraging the High School and Beyond Plan rollout to increase FAFSA completion, while noting details of bill language matter and his organization had not been involved in drafting the bill.
Status: SB 5841 was scheduled for a Senate committee executive session on Jan. 22; HB 2132 was in executive session in the House Higher Education Committee at the time of the meeting. WASAC staff said they will continue to provide technical input and monitor amendments.
