A bipartisan bill to let participants in Washington’s Guaranteed Education Tuition (GET) pre-paid college tuition program directly share in recent unanticipated investment gains was signed today by Gov. Jay Inslee.

Senate Bill 6087, sponsored by Sen. Mark Mullet, D-Issaquah, returns those gains to GET account holders, giving them three months to redeem GET units for cash value and roll that amount into Washington’s new DreamAhead College Investment Program.

“State policy led to an unplanned surplus, but that money belongs to Washington families and so does any gain on it,” Mullet said. “This law – which won’t put the state or remaining GET holders at greater financial risk – gives it back to them so they can decide for themselves how best to save for higher education.

The GET program allows households to purchase the cost of college tuition at today’s prices to ensure families can afford college, even if the cost of tuition increases in the future. The state then invests those funds in order to cover the actual cost of tuition for GET holders when students start college.

The value of a GET unit has not changed in the past six years because the state has frozen tuition. Currently, 100 GET units is equal to about $10,386, enough to send a student to a state college for a year. However, the state currently has a surplus in the GET investment fund, meaning that 100 GET credits is worth more than $14,000.

The DreamAhead program, which functions likes a 401k program, was created in 2016 and is expected to open to investors this year.