News

Changes in match policies are coming

The original $5 million endowment given to the program by the state legislature in 1999 is nearly all obligated. Although it has grown to nearly $13 million in the past twenty years, the various fee matches have consumed its balance. Consequently, the governing board may do any of the following, to take effect on July 1, 2022:

• stopping the sharing of the state funds earnings with individual account holders
• stopping the match on the $600 enrollment fee
• stopping the match on the $75 tax preparation fee
• stopping the match on the first $75 of the management fee
• changing the amounts of the fee matches
• changing the frequency of the fee matches

The matches of state funds accrued to the individual accounts will remain with those accounts. We are talking about stopping future fee matches. We are not talking about taking away matches that have accrued to the accounts.

Russian and spanish outreach documents

The brochure, information sheet and DDETF-ABLE comparison have been translated into Russian and Spanish. Check them out by selecting this link to the Forms webpage and scroll down towards the bottom under the Publications header.

Video library

Video blogs and recorded presentation webinars including the 2021 Trust Holder Meeting are available by selecting this link to the Video webpage. Alternatively, select the “videos” button located in the top blue and green banner stripe on the right side at the top of the web page.

Online viewing of quarterly statements available

The Endowment Trust Fund System (ETFS) service allows primary representatives to 1) view a trust account’s quarterly statements for the past three years, 2) view current account balance and 3) view recent transactions.

It is a three-step process to setup your ETFS service. There are screen shots of the steps shown in the user manual below that makes it is easy to follow. The process is:

1. Register for a Secure Access Washington (SAW) by selecting the link. You will receive an auto-generated email from SAW once your account is set up.
2. Submit a scanned or imaged copy of the ETFS Access Request Form to the email address on the form. You will receive an email from “ITARS Mail” once the logistics setup is completed. This takes a few days to process.
3. After the two confirmation emails are received, go to SAW, login using the email from the ETFS access request form, click on the “add a new service” button, click on the “I would like to browse a list of services by agency” button, click on the “Department of Commerce” button, scroll to the “Endowment Trust Fund System” (ETFS), and select “apply” to add it to your SAW account services. You will receive an auto-generated welcome email from SAW for the ETFS service.
4. Three steps and three email confirmations, you can go to Secure Access Washington (SAW), login, and click on the ETFS service to view the trust account information 24/7/365.

Select this link to view or download the Endowment-Trust-Fund-System-User-Manual.

• It shows screen by screen images of the steps to take connecting the service.
• It shows screen shots of the features of the service.

reminders

• Update your mailing address if it has changed to continue to receive our correspondence. Select this link to view and/or print the change of address form.
• Disbursement related communications should be sent to a new email address by selecting the link here.