Children of murdered parents

AN ACT Relating to tuition and fee waivers at public institutions 1
of higher education for children of murdered parents; and amending 2
RCW 28B.15.380 and 28B.15.520; creating a new section; and providing 3
an expiration date. 4
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:5
Sec. 1. RCW 28B.15.380 and 2019 c 144 s 1 are each amended to 6
read as follows: 7
(1) Subject to the limitations of RCW 28B.15.910, the governing 8
boards of the state universities, the regional universities, and The 9
Evergreen State College shall exempt the following students from the 10
payment of all tuition fees and services and activities fees:11
(((1))) (a) Children of any law enforcement officer as defined in 12
chapter 41.26 RCW, firefighter as defined in chapter 41.26 or 41.24 13
RCW, highway worker, or Washington state patrol officer who lost his 14
or her life or became totally disabled in the line of duty while 15
employed by any public law enforcement agency or full-time or 16
volunteer fire department in this state, or was a highway worker 17
while either employed by a general contractor or subcontractor, on a 18
transportation project or employed by a transportation agency: 19
PROVIDED, That such persons may receive the exemption only if they 20
begin their course of study at a state-supported college or 21
S-1063.2
SENATE BILL 5639
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Senators Christian, Chapman, Dozier, Harris, Hasegawa, Lovick,
Short, Torres, Warnick, and J. Wilson
Read first time 02/03/25. Referred to Committee on Higher Education
& Workforce Development.
p. 1 SB 5639
university within ((ten)) 10 years of their graduation from high 1
school; ((and2
(2))) (b) Children of a parent who was a victim of a homicide, 3
who were a resident of the state at the time the homicide of the 4
parent occurred, and who were subsequently subject to a dependency 5
proceeding pursuant to chapter 13.34 RCW: PROVIDED, That such persons 6
may receive the exemption at a state-supported college or university 7
for a total of six academic years. For purposes of this subsection 8
(1)(b), homicide has the same meaning as defined in RCW 9A.32.010; 9
and10
(c) Surviving spouses of any law enforcement officer as defined 11
in chapter 41.26 RCW, firefighter as defined in chapter 41.26 or 12
41.24 RCW, highway worker, or Washington state patrol officer who 13
lost his or her life or became totally disabled in the line of duty 14
while employed by any public law enforcement agency or full-time or 15
volunteer fire department in this state, or was a highway worker 16
while either employed by a general contractor or subcontractor, on a 17
transportation project or employed by a transportation agency.18
(((3))) (2) The governing boards of the state universities, the 19
regional universities, and The Evergreen State College shall report 20
to the education data center on the annual cost of tuition fees and 21
services and activities fees waived for surviving spouses and 22
children under this section. The education data center shall 23
consolidate the reports of the waived fees and annually report to the 24
appropriate fiscal and policy committees of the legislature.25
(((4))) (3) As used in this section, "transportation agency" 26
means any agency, department, or division of a municipal corporation, 27
political subdivision, or other unit of local government in this 28
state, and any agency, department, or division of state government, 29
having as its primary function the construction and maintenance of 30
the highways and roads within the state of Washington. Such an 31
agency, department, or division is distinguished from a transit 32
agency having as one of its functions the highway maintenance ((,)) 33
including, but not limited to , the state department of 34
transportation. A transportation agency under this section does not 35
include a government contractor. 36
Sec. 2. RCW 28B.15.520 and 2015 c 55 s 217 are each amended to 37
read as follows: 38
p. 2 SB 5639
Subject to the limitations of RCW 28B.15.910, the governing 1
boards of the community and technical colleges: 2
(1) May waive all or a portion of tuition fees and services and 3
activities fees for students ((nineteen)) 19 years of age or older 4
who are eligible for resident tuition and fee rates as defined in RCW 5
28B.15.012 through 28B.15.015, who enroll in a course of study or 6
program which will enable them to finish their high school education 7
and obtain a high school diploma or certificate, but who are not 8
eligible students as defined by RCW 28A.600.405; 9
(2)(a) Shall waive all of tuition fees and services and 10
activities fees for: 11
(i) Children of any law enforcement officer as defined in chapter 12
41.26 RCW, firefighter as defined in chapter 41.26 or 41.24 RCW, or 13
Washington state patrol officer who lost his or her life or became 14
totally disabled in the line of duty while employed by any public law 15
enforcement agency or full time or volunteer fire department in this 16
state: PROVIDED, That such persons may receive the waiver only if 17
they begin their course of study at a community or technical college 18
within ((ten)) 10 years of their graduation from high school; ((and))19
(ii) Children of a parent who was a victim of a homicide, who 20
were a resident of the state at the time the homicide of the parent 21
occurred, and who were subsequently subject to a dependency 22
proceeding pursuant to chapter 13.34 RCW: PROVIDED, That such persons 23
may receive the exemption at a state-supported college or university 24
for a total of six academic years. For purposes of this subsection 25
(2)(a)(ii), homicide has the same meaning as defined in RCW 26
9A.32.010; and27
(iii) Surviving spouses of any law enforcement officer as defined 28
in chapter 41.26 RCW, firefighter as defined in chapter 41.26 or 29
41.24 RCW, or Washington state patrol officer who lost his or her 30
life or became totally disabled in the line of duty while employed by 31
any public law enforcement agency or full time or volunteer fire 32
department in this state. 33
(b) For the purposes of this section, "totally disabled" means a 34
person who has become totally and permanently disabled for life by 35
bodily injury or disease, and is thereby prevented from performing 36
any occupation or gainful pursuit. 37
(c) The governing boards of the community and technical colleges 38
shall report to the state board for community and technical colleges 39
on the annual cost of tuition fees and services and activities fees 40
p. 3 SB 5639
waived for surviving spouses and children under (a) of this 1
subsection. The state board for community and technical colleges 2
shall consolidate the reports of the waived fees and annually report 3
to the appropriate fiscal and policy committees of the legislature; 4
and 5
(3) May waive all or a portion of the nonresident tuition fees 6
differential for: 7
(a) Nonresident students enrolled in a community or technical 8
college course of study or program which will enable them to finish 9
their high school education and obtain a high school diploma or 10
certificate but who are not eligible students as defined by RCW 11
28A.600.405. The waiver shall be in effect only for those courses 12
which lead to a high school diploma or certificate; and13
(b) Up to ((forty)) 40 percent of the students enrolled in the 14
regional education program for deaf students, subject to federal 15
funding of such program. 16
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. (1) The Washington state institute for 17
public policy shall study the impact on children whose parent was a 18
victim of a homicide and were subsequently subject to a dependency 19
proceeding pursuant to chapter 13.34 RCW. The study must explore the 20
following for children whose parent was a victim of homicide, before 21
and after the enactment of the tuition waiver established in this 22
act:23
(a) Educational outcomes, including enrollment and persistence;24
(b) Health outcomes; and 25
(c) Incidents with the law. 26
(2) The Washington state institute for public policy shall 27
complete the final report that evaluates the effect of tuition 28
waivers for the impacted children by December 1, 2035. A preliminary 29
report, which may provide any issues with data collection, is due by 30
December 1, 2031. 31
(3) This section expires July 1, 2036. 32
--- END ---
p. 4 SB 5639