ESSB 5294
SignedSenate
Professional accounts
Transferring dedicated accounts for certain professional licenses to the business and professions account.
How does a bill become law?
- Introduced: The bill is filed and assigned a number.
- Committee: A subject-matter committee holds hearings, takes public testimony, and decides whether to advance the bill.
- Floor Vote: The full chamber (House or Senate) debates and votes on the bill.
- Opposite Chamber: The bill repeats the committee and floor vote process in the other chamber.
- Governor: The Governor reviews the bill and decides whether to sign or veto it.
- Signed: The bill has been signed into law.
AI Analysis
This bill consolidates 22 separate professional licensing fee accounts into a single 'business and professions account' managed by the Department of Licensing. All license fees from covered professions—including architects, cosmetologists, funeral directors, and real estate appraisers—will now flow into this one account and be used only for licensing-related expenses. It also transfers leftover funds from the old accounts into the new one by early 2026.
- Creates a single 'business and professions account' in the state treasury to collect all license, registration, examination, and civil penalty fees from 22 professional licensing chapters.
- Requires all fees from covered professions—including architects, cosmetologists, funeral directors, real estate appraisers, geologists, and others—to be deposited into the new account instead of separate dedicated accounts.
- Limits spending from the account to only the costs of administering the listed licensing activities, and prohibits leftover funds from reverting to the general fund at the end of the biennium.
- Repeals six existing laws that created and governed separate dedicated accounts for specific professions (e.g., architects, funeral directors, landscape architects).
- Requires transfer of all remaining balances in the old dedicated accounts as of December 31, 2025, to the new business and professions account by February 28, 2026.
Who is affected
- Licensing applicants and license holders in affected professions — Professionals and businesses in fields like architecture, funeral services, cosmetology, real estate appraisal, and others must now pay licensing fees into a single state account instead of separate dedicated accounts; fee usage remains tied to licensing-related expenses.
- Department of Licensing — The Department of Licensing will consolidate management of multiple professional license funds into one account, simplifying accounting and budgeting for licensing activities.
- State of Washington (General Fund and Office of Financial Management) — State government benefits from consolidated fund management and avoids potential imbalances between dedicated accounts, while ensuring fees collected are used only for licensing-related costs.
- General public — Consumers and the public may benefit from more transparent and efficient licensing oversight, as fees are now tracked in one account dedicated to licensing administration.
Pro/Con Analysis
Potential Benefits (2)
Simplifies state accounting by consolidating 22 separate fee accounts into one, reducing administrative overhead and potential accounting errors for the Department of Licensing.
Local GovernmentRef: Sec. 1(1) – single 'business and professions account'; Sec. 3 – transfer of balances by Feb 28, 2026Reinforces that all collected licensing fees must be used solely for licensing-related administrative costs, preventing fee diversion to unrelated state functions.
Local GovernmentRef: Sec. 1(1) – 'expenditures... may be used only for expenses incurred in carrying out these business and professions licensing activities'
Potential Concerns (3)
Eliminates the ability of individual licensing boards (e.g., architects, funeral directors) to independently manage their own fee-based budgets, reducing transparency and accountability for how fees are spent within each profession’s regulatory program.
Local GovernmentRef: Sec. 1(1) – all fees deposited into single account; Sec. 2 – repeals six dedicated accountsWhile fees remain restricted to licensing costs, the consolidation removes statutory safeguards that previously ensured surplus funds from one profession could not be used to subsidize another’s program — potentially masking underfunding in specific licensing programs.
Local GovernmentRef: Sec. 1(1) – 'expenditures... may be used only for expenses incurred in carrying out these business and professions licensing activities'; Sec. 1(1) – 'any residue... may not revert to the general fund'Removes long-standing statutory frameworks that governed how specific professions’ fees were used, potentially weakening oversight and historical accountability for those programs.
Local GovernmentRef: Sec. 2 – repeals six specific dedicated account statutes
Who Is Most Affected
Professionals in fields like architecture, funeral services, and real estate appraisal will continue paying the same fees, but those fees will no longer be tracked or spent exclusively within their own profession’s regulatory program — potentially reducing accountability for how their money is used.
The Department of Licensing gains operational efficiency through simplified fund management, but loses the ability to demonstrate program-specific financial performance for individual licensing boards.
The state benefits from streamlined accounting and reduced administrative complexity, but loses no revenue — fees were already restricted to licensing costs. The public may see no direct benefit, but may gain indirectly from more consistent oversight.
Consumers may benefit from more consistent licensing standards and oversight, but no direct consumer protection or cost savings are created by this bill.
Small licensing boards (e.g., notaries, home inspectors) may lose visibility and autonomy in budgeting, while larger boards (e.g., architects, funeral directors) may gain little — overall, this consolidates control under DOL without clear benefit to any specific group.