---
type: "Bill"
title: "Concerning the definition of veteran."
description: "Concerning the definition of veteran."
jurisdiction: "us/states/wa"
legislature: "Washington Legislature"
session: "2019-2020"
identifier: "HB 2544"
citation: "Washington HB 2544 (2019-2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["VETERANS", "PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT AND EMPLOYEES"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Paul"]
version_count: 2
action_count: 27
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2020-01-15"
last_action: "2020-03-27"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/3e616d78-dba5-4495-859e-d5eaf6915728"
source_url: "http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=2544&year=2019"
source_hash: "ea8f36a379a9c9515e2f871684ecba66cfc1f5f7cd0b44586f06884803345b8d"
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 2544 (2019-2020) — Concerning the definition of veteran.

## 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/2544.htm)
2. **Substitute Bill** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2019-20/Htm/Bills/House%20Bills/2544-S.htm)

## Votes

- 3rd Reading & Final Passage (#33) — **49–0** (pass) · upper
- 3rd Reading & Final Passage (#11) — **98–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Paul — primary (person)
- Dufault — cosponsor (person)
- Graham — cosponsor (person)
- Leavitt — cosponsor (person)
- Ormsby — 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 Appropriations. `reading-1`
- **2020-02-07** APP - Majority; 1st substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `passage`
- **2020-02-07** Referred to Rules 2 Review.
- **2020-02-12** Rules Committee relieved of further consideration. Placed on second reading.
- **2020-02-13** 1st substitute bill substituted. `substitution`
- **2020-02-07** APP - Majority; 1st substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `passage`
- **2020-02-07** Referred to Rules 2 Review.
- **2020-02-12** Rules Committee relieved of further consideration. Placed on second reading.
- **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 Ways & Means. `reading-1`
- **2020-03-02** WM - Majority; do pass.
- **2020-03-02** Passed to Rules Committee for second reading.
- **2020-03-05** Placed on second reading by Rules Committee.
- **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** Speaker signed. `passage`
- **2020-03-10** President signed. `passage`
- **2020-03-11** Delivered to Governor.
- **2020-03-27** Governor signed. `executive-signature`
- **2020-03-27** Chapter 178, 2020 Laws. `became-law`
- **2020-03-27** Effective date 6/11/2020. `became-law`
- **2020-01-23T20:30:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the House Committee on Appropriations at 03:30 PM
- **2020-02-06T20:30:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the House Committee on Appropriations at 03:30 PM
- **2020-03-02T15:00:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means at 10:00 AM
- **2020-02-26T20:30:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means at 03:30 PM

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/3e616d78-dba5-4495-859e-d5eaf6915728`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Washington legislature records).