---
type: "Bill"
title: "Ensuring eligible veterans and their dependents qualify for in-state residency."
description: "Ensuring eligible veterans and their dependents qualify for in-state residency."
jurisdiction: "us/states/wa"
legislature: "Washington Legislature"
session: "2019-2020"
identifier: "HB 2543"
citation: "Washington HB 2543 (2019-2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["COMMUNITY AND TECHNICAL COLLEGES", "COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES", "MILITARY"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Paul"]
version_count: 2
action_count: 35
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2020-01-15"
last_action: "2020-03-31"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/93c4d028-01d3-406f-a7b8-4ec239b6b148"
source_url: "http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=2543&year=2019"
source_hash: "8aea1b0d667eb857465d9c8b7bda34a67d3a2ff2eabf0acdb646612323f2a11e"
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 2543 (2019-2020) — Ensuring eligible veterans and their dependents qualify for in-state residency.

## 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/2019-20/Htm/Bills/House%20Bills/2543.htm)
2. **Substitute Bill** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2019-20/Htm/Bills/House%20Bills/2543-S.htm)

## Votes

- 3rd Reading & Final Passage as Amended by the Senate (#27) — **49–0** (pass) · upper
- 3rd Reading & Final Passage (#10) — **98–0** (pass) · lower
- Final Passage as Amended by the Senate (#31) — **94–2** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Paul — primary (person)
- Davis — cosponsor (person)
- Dufault — cosponsor (person)
- Graham — cosponsor (person)
- Kilduff — cosponsor (person)
- Leavitt — cosponsor (person)
- Ormsby — cosponsor (person)
- Peterson — cosponsor (person)
- Smith — cosponsor (person)
- Volz — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2020-01-15** First reading, referred to College & Workforce Development. `reading-1`
- **2020-01-29** CWD - Majority; 1st substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `passage`
- **2020-02-03** Referred to Rules 2 Review.
- **2020-02-04** Placed on second reading by Rules Committee.
- **2020-02-13** 1st substitute bill substituted. `substitution`
- **2020-01-29** CWD - Majority; 1st substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `passage`
- **2020-02-03** Referred to Rules 2 Review.
- **2020-02-04** Placed on second reading by Rules Committee.
- **2020-02-13** 1st substitute bill substituted. `substitution`
- **2020-02-13** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading.
- **2020-02-13** Third reading, passed; yeas, 98; nays, 0; absent, 0; excused, 0. `reading-3`
- **2020-02-17** First reading, referred to Higher Education & Workforce Development. `reading-1`
- **2020-02-28** HEWD - Majority; do pass with amendment(s).
- **2020-02-28** And refer to Ways & Means. `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-28** Referred to Ways & Means.
- **2020-03-02** WM - Majority; do pass with amendment(s) by Higher Education & Workforce Development.
- **2020-03-02** Passed to Rules Committee for second reading.
- **2020-03-05** Placed on second reading by Rules Committee.
- **2020-03-06** Committee amendment(s) adopted with no other amendments.
- **2020-03-06** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading.
- **2020-03-06** Third reading, passed; yeas, 49; nays, 0; absent, 0; excused, 0. `reading-3`
- **2020-03-09** House concurred in Senate amendments.
- **2020-03-09** Passed final passage; yeas, 94; nays, 2; absent, 0; excused, 2. `passage`
- **2020-03-11** Speaker signed. `passage`
- **2020-03-12** President signed. `passage`
- **2020-03-12** Delivered to Governor.
- **2020-03-31** Governor signed. `executive-signature`
- **2020-03-31** Chapter 232, 2020 Laws. `became-law`
- **2020-03-31** Effective date 6/11/2020. `became-law`
- **2020-01-22T18:30:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the House Committee on College & Workforce Development at 01:30 PM
- **2020-01-29T18:30:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the House Committee on College & Workforce Development at 01:30 PM
- **2020-02-20T18:30:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on Higher Education & Workforce Development at 01:30 PM
- **2020-02-28T18:30:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on Higher Education & Workforce Development at 01:30 PM
- **2020-02-29T14:00:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means at 09:00 AM
- **2020-03-02T15:00:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means at 10:00 AM

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/93c4d028-01d3-406f-a7b8-4ec239b6b148`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Washington legislature records).