School Bond Guarantee Program

Program Overview

The State’s School Bond Guarantee Program pledges the full faith and credit of the state to guarantee the principal and interest payments of voter-approved general obligation (GO) bonds issued by Washington school districts. The credit enhancement provided by the program allows the bonds to be sold with the State’s strong credit ratings and provides considerable savings to taxpayers.

The program is authorized in 39.98 RCW.

The administrative rules are found in WAC 210-02.

As of December 31, 2023 over $34 billion of Washington school bonds have been guaranteed by the program (including refunding bonds). It is estimated that the program saves taxpayers around $53 million annually, for approximate total savings of $475 million, since the program began in 2000.

As of March 1, 2024:

• Number of school districts with outstanding bonds guaranteed by program: 151
• Number of outstanding bond issues guaranteed by program: 393
• Aggregate principal amount of outstanding bond issues guaranteed by the program: $14,766,647,974.25