---
type: "Bill"
title: "Authorizing licensed spirits and wine distributors to sell spirits and wine products to their employees in certain circumstances."
description: "Authorizing licensed spirits and wine distributors to sell spirits and wine products to their employees in certain circumstances."
jurisdiction: "us/states/wa"
legislature: "Washington Legislature"
session: "2017-2018"
identifier: "SB 5537"
citation: "Washington SB 5537 (2017-2018)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["King"]
version_count: 2
action_count: 26
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2017-01-27"
last_action: "2017-04-27"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/f377137f-bdd3-431f-bd84-96758333a53f"
source_url: "http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=5537&year=2017"
source_hash: "8e6ac2d4a8cfa088d120e64995f894f0c7f2358ff16a3a4c897f22dfcd4d1fae"
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 SB 5537 (2017-2018) — Authorizing licensed spirits and wine distributors to sell spirits and wine products to their employees in certain circumstances.

## 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/Senate%20Bills/5537.htm)
2. **Substitute Bill** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2017-18/Htm/Bills/Senate%20Bills/5537-S.htm)

## Votes

- Final Passage (#2) — **76–21** (pass) · lower
- 3rd Reading & Final Passage (#29) — **41–7** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- King — primary (person)
- Keiser — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2017-01-27** First reading, referred to Commerce, Labor & Sports. `reading-1`
- **2017-02-15** CLS - Majority; 1st substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `passage`
- **2017-02-15** Minority; without recommendation.
- **2017-02-17** Passed to Rules Committee for second reading.
- **2017-03-02** Placed on second reading by Rules Committee.
- **2017-03-06** 1st substitute bill substituted. `substitution`
- **2017-02-15** CLS - Majority; 1st substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `passage`
- **2017-02-15** Minority; without recommendation.
- **2017-02-17** Passed to Rules Committee for second reading.
- **2017-03-02** Placed on second reading by Rules Committee.
- **2017-03-06** 1st substitute bill substituted. `substitution`
- **2017-03-06** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading.
- **2017-03-06** Third reading, passed; yeas, 41; nays, 7; absent, 0; excused, 1. `reading-3`
- **2017-03-08** First reading, referred to Commerce & Gaming (Not Officially read and referred until adoption of Introduction report). `reading-1`
- **2017-03-21** COG - Majority; do pass.
- **2017-03-21** Minority; do not pass.
- **2017-03-23** Referred to Rules 2 Review.
- **2017-04-06** Placed on second reading by Rules Committee.
- **2017-04-11** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading.
- **2017-04-11** Third reading, passed; yeas, 76; nays, 21; absent, 0; excused, 1. `reading-3`
- **2017-04-12** President signed. `passage`
- **2017-04-14** Speaker signed. `passage`
- **2017-04-18** Delivered to Governor.
- **2017-04-27** Governor signed. `executive-signature`
- **2017-04-27** Chapter 160, 2017 Laws. `became-law`
- **2017-04-27** Effective date 7/23/2017. `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/f377137f-bdd3-431f-bd84-96758333a53f`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Washington legislature records).