Summary — HB 1590 (North Dakota) — Student Education Services Account Pilot Program
Status (records provided)
- Introduced: March 14, 2025.
- Legislative actions in the document show readings and passage in March–April 2025 (read 1st: 3/17/2025; read 3rd & passed: 3/31/2025; enrolled and transmitted to Governor: 4/1/2025; notification as Act 454: 4/3/2025).
- The header information also records a conflicting status line: “Second reading, failed, lacks constitutional majority — yeas 47, nays 40.” (The file contains mixed records from multiple jurisdictions; see note below.)
Purpose and intent
- Establish a two‑year pilot program (school years 2025–26 and 2026–27) to create student education services accounts (SESAs) administered by the Bank of North Dakota (BND) so parents can pay for a range of authorized K–12 education expenses and related services.
Key provisions
- Pilot establishment and administration
- BND shall create and operate the SESA pilot for 2025–26 through 2026–27.
- BND may adopt rules under chapter 28‑32 and may contract with private service providers to administer accounts.
- Parents must register annually to participate.
Eligible students and accounts
- “Child” = North Dakota resident enrolled in K–12.
- Each account is held in the name of the child and parent; one account per child; funds may not be shared among siblings.
- Unused funds may carry over year to year within the pilot.
Authorized education expenses (selected examples)
- Tuition: career & technical education, dual‑credit, vocational/technical, certified online courses, approved programs, nonpublic (private) school tuition.
- Services/materials: school meals; tutoring; mental‑health assistance; special‑needs services; educational materials essential to meet standards; standardized test prep; higher‑education entrance exams; educational camps; medical appointments that provide an educational benefit.
Deposits, matching, payments, rollovers, refunds
- The bill text specifies that BND will deposit funds equal to 50% of the amount deposited by a parent (i.e., a 50% state match).
- Vendors request payment from the account administrator; requests may be made in December and May, except payments over $300 may be requested any time.
- Upon high‑school graduation, parents may transfer remaining funds into the state “college save program” if the student enrolls in an in‑state institution.
- If the child leaves the state, does not pursue higher education, or enrolls out‑of‑state, the account is closed and parent‑contributed funds must be refunded.
Appropriation and administrative costs
- Appropriates $41,200,000 from the state general fund to the Bank of North Dakota for funding and administering the pilot for the biennium July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2027.
- BND may use up to $1,200,000 of that appropriation for program administration.
Who is affected
- Primary: parents/legal guardians of K–12 North Dakota residents and participating students.
- Service providers/vendors: private schools, tutors, mental‑health providers, test‑prep vendors, certified course providers, etc.
- Bank of North Dakota (program administrator) and state budget ($41.2M appropriation, up to $1.2M admin).
Timeline and implementation
- Pilot operates school years 2025–26 and 2026–27.
- Appropriation covers the 2025–27 biennium.
- BND rulemaking and contracting authority to operationalize accounts.
Notes and caveats
- The provided bill excerpt contains two truncated lines where numeric caps (e.g., per‑child maximums or parental deposit limits) appear to be omitted. The version supplied clearly states the 50% match and the appropriation amounts, but some deposit limits are not legible in the document.
- The file includes text snippets from other jurisdictions' bills labeled HB 1590 (Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana), which are unrelated to the North Dakota measure; this summary addresses the North Dakota student education services account pilot program only.
