---
type: "Bill"
title: "Concerning powers to waive statutory obligations or limitations during a state of emergency in order to cope with the emergency."
description: "Concerning powers to waive statutory obligations or limitations during a state of emergency in order to cope with the emergency."
jurisdiction: "us/states/wa"
legislature: "Washington Legislature"
session: "2019-2020"
identifier: "SB 5260"
citation: "Washington SB 5260 (2019-2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["GOVERNOR", "EMERGENCY", "STATE OF", "WASHINGTON ADMINISTRATIVE CODE", "REVISED CODE OF WASHINGTON"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Zeiger"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 26
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2019-01-16"
last_action: "2019-05-21"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/36d9d494-df37-413c-b35f-5d6de4e838c8"
source_url: "http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=5260&year=2019"
source_hash: "e7ae08929bf7528320c96cbf41e9646882187c9b0631188bdcf153dfd2f54843"
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 5260 (2019-2020) — Concerning powers to waive statutory obligations or limitations during a state of emergency in order to cope with the emergency.

## 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/Senate%20Bills/5260.htm)

## Votes

- Final Passage as Amended by the House (#12) — **98–0** (pass) · lower
- 3rd Reading & Final Passage (#11) — **45–2** (pass) · upper
- Final Passage as Amended by the House (#6) — **44–2** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Zeiger — primary (person)
- Bailey — cosponsor (person)
- Conway — cosponsor (person)
- Hobbs — cosponsor (person)
- Hunt — cosponsor (person)
- Takko — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-01-16** First reading, referred to State Government, Tribal Relations & Elections. `reading-1`
- **2019-02-06** SGTE - Majority; do pass.
- **2019-02-06** Minority; without recommendation.
- **2019-02-07** Passed to Rules Committee for second reading.
- **2019-02-12** Placed on second reading by Rules Committee.
- **2019-02-13** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading.
- **2019-02-13** Third reading, passed; yeas, 45; nays, 2; absent, 0; excused, 2. `reading-3`
- **2019-02-14** First reading, referred to Housing, Community Development & Veterans. `reading-1`
- **2019-03-22** HOUS - Majority; do pass with amendment(s).
- **2019-03-26** Referred to Rules 2 Review.
- **2019-04-17** Rules Committee relieved of further consideration. Placed on second reading.
- **2019-04-17** Committee amendment(s) adopted as amended.
- **2019-04-17** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading.
- **2019-04-17** Third reading, passed; yeas, 98; nays, 0; absent, 0; excused, 0. `reading-3`
- **2019-04-23** Senate concurred in House amendments.
- **2019-04-23** Passed final passage; yeas, 44; nays, 2; absent, 0; excused, 3. `passage`
- **2019-04-25** President signed. `passage`
- **2019-04-25** Speaker signed. `passage`
- **2019-04-26** Delivered to Governor.
- **2019-05-21** Governor signed. `executive-signature`
- **2019-05-21** Chapter 472, 2019 Laws. `became-law`
- **2019-05-21** Effective date 7/28/2019. `became-law`
- **2019-02-01T18:30:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on State Government, Tribal Relations & Elections at 01:30 PM
- **2019-02-06T13:00:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on State Government, Tribal Relations & Elections at 08:00 AM
- **2019-03-06T13:00:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the House Committee on Housing, Community Development & Veterans at 08:00 AM
- **2019-03-22T14:00:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the House Committee on Housing, Community Development & Veterans 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/36d9d494-df37-413c-b35f-5d6de4e838c8`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Washington legislature records).