---
type: "Bill"
title: "Prohibiting employers from asking about arrests or convictions before an applicant is determined otherwise qualified for a position."
description: "Prohibiting employers from asking about arrests or convictions before an applicant is determined otherwise qualified for a position."
jurisdiction: "us/states/wa"
legislature: "Washington Legislature"
session: "2017-2018"
identifier: "HB 1298"
citation: "Washington HB 1298 (2017-2018)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["NAMED ACTS", "CRIMINAL OFFENDERS", "EMPLOYMENT AND EMPLOYEES", "LABOR", "ATTORNEY GENERAL"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Ortiz-Self"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 56
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2017-01-16"
last_action: "2018-03-13"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/2cb98d78-a065-4fb5-9b74-6583e64aa777"
source_url: "http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=1298&year=2017"
source_hash: "d99c17551221217426947f6f1d2f684580ecc314fa03ac61aa0f1fa9603b2644"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-wa"]
---

# Washington HB 1298 (2017-2018) — Prohibiting employers from asking about arrests or convictions before an applicant is determined otherwise qualified for a position.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Bill** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2017-18/Htm/Bills/House%20Bills/1298.htm)
2. **Second Substitute Bill** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2017-18/Htm/Bills/House%20Bills/1298-S2.htm)
3. **Substitute Bill** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2017-18/Htm/Bills/House%20Bills/1298-S.htm)

## Votes

- Final Passage as Amended by the Senate (#4) — **52–44** (pass) · lower
- Final Passage as Amended by the Senate (#28) — **33–16** (pass) · upper
- Final Passage (#42) — **68–30** (pass) · lower
- 721 Manweller Pg 4 Ln 12 (#10) — **47–51** (fail) · lower
- Final Passage (#11) — **52–46** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Ortiz-Self — primary (person)
- Appleton — cosponsor (person)
- Bergquist — cosponsor (person)
- Farrell — cosponsor (person)
- Frame — cosponsor (person)
- Gregerson — cosponsor (person)
- Haler — cosponsor (person)
- Jinkins — cosponsor (person)
- Kagi — cosponsor (person)
- Kilduff — cosponsor (person)
- Lovick — cosponsor (person)
- Manweller — cosponsor (person)
- McBride — cosponsor (person)
- Ormsby — cosponsor (person)
- Santos — cosponsor (person)
- Sells — cosponsor (person)
- Senn — cosponsor (person)
- Stanford — cosponsor (person)
- Tarleton — cosponsor (person)
- Young — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2017-01-16** First reading, referred to Labor & Workplace Standards (Not Officially read and referred until adoption of Introduction report). `reading-1`
- **2017-01-30** LAWS - Majority; do pass.
- **2017-01-30** Minority; do not pass.
- **2017-01-30** Minority; without recommendation.
- **2017-02-02** Referred to Appropriations.
- **2017-02-22** APP - Majority; 1st substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `passage`
- **2017-02-22** Minority; do not pass.
- **2017-02-22** Minority; without recommendation.
- **2017-02-24** Referred to Rules 2 Review.
- **2017-02-28** Placed on second reading by Rules Committee.
- **2017-03-01** 1st substitute bill substituted. `substitution`
- **2017-02-22** APP - Majority; 1st substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `passage`
- **2017-02-22** Minority; do not pass.
- **2017-02-22** Minority; without recommendation.
- **2017-02-24** Referred to Rules 2 Review.
- **2017-02-28** Placed on second reading by Rules Committee.
- **2017-03-01** 1st substitute bill substituted. `substitution`
- **2017-03-01** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading.
- **2017-03-01** Third reading, passed; yeas, 68; nays, 30; absent, 0; excused, 0. `reading-3`
- **2017-03-03** First reading, referred to Commerce, Labor & Sports. `reading-1`
- **2017-04-23** By resolution, returned to House Rules Committee for third reading.
- **2017-04-24** By resolution, reintroduced and retained in present status.
- **2017-05-23** By resolution, reintroduced and retained in present status.
- **2017-06-21** By resolution, reintroduced and retained in present status.
- **2018-01-08** By resolution, reintroduced and retained in present status.
- **2018-01-08** Rules Committee relieved of further consideration.
- **2018-01-08** Referred to Labor & Workplace Standards.
- **2018-01-09** LAWS - Majority; 2nd substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `passage`
- **2018-01-09** Minority; do not pass.
- **2018-01-12** Placed on second reading.
- **2018-02-07** 2nd substitute bill substituted. `substitution`
- **2018-01-09** LAWS - Majority; 2nd substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `passage`
- **2018-01-09** Minority; do not pass.
- **2018-01-12** Placed on second reading.
- **2018-02-07** 2nd substitute bill substituted. `substitution`
- **2018-02-07** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading.
- **2018-02-07** Third reading, passed; yeas, 52; nays, 46; absent, 0; excused, 0. `reading-3`
- **2018-02-09** First reading, referred to Labor & Commerce. `reading-1`
- **2018-02-21** LBRC - Majority; do pass with amendment(s).
- **2018-02-21** Minority; without recommendation.
- **2018-02-22** On motion, referred to Ways & Means.
- **2018-02-26** WM - Majority; do pass with amendment(s) by Labor & Commerce.
- **2018-02-26** Minority; do not pass.
- **2018-02-26** Passed to Rules Committee for second reading.
- **2018-02-27** Placed on second reading by Rules Committee.
- **2018-02-28** Committee amendment(s) adopted with no other amendments.
- **2018-02-28** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading.
- **2018-02-28** Third reading, passed; yeas, 33; nays, 16; absent, 0; excused, 0. `reading-3`
- **2018-03-03** House concurred in Senate amendments.
- **2018-03-03** Passed final passage; yeas, 52; nays, 44; absent, 0; excused, 2. `passage`
- **2018-03-06** Speaker signed. `passage`
- **2018-03-06** President signed. `passage`
- **2018-03-07** Delivered to Governor.
- **2018-03-13** Governor signed. `executive-signature`
- **2018-03-13** Chapter 38, 2018 Laws. `became-law`
- **2018-03-13** Effective date 6/7/2018**. `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/2cb98d78-a065-4fb5-9b74-6583e64aa777`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Washington legislature records).