---
type: "Bill"
title: "Extending collective bargaining rights to assistant attorneys general."
description: "Extending collective bargaining rights to assistant attorneys general."
jurisdiction: "us/states/wa"
legislature: "Washington Legislature"
session: "2019-2020"
identifier: "SB 5297"
citation: "Washington SB 5297 (2019-2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["ATTORNEY GENERAL", "COLLECTIVE BARGAINING"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Hunt"]
version_count: 2
action_count: 48
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2019-01-17"
last_action: "2019-04-26"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/0548bd3e-1bae-40ce-94a9-a927e4e580da"
source_url: "http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=5297&year=2019"
source_hash: "45068ee54fa8b80dfe4f4e132a77a1b45c6e58c067d2d84ca162a5b617b29db4"
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 5297 (2019-2020) — Extending collective bargaining rights to assistant attorneys general.

## 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/5297.htm)
2. **Substitute Bill** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2019-20/Htm/Bills/Senate%20Bills/5297-S.htm)

## Votes

- Final Passage (#2) — **61–35** (pass) · lower
- 3rd Reading & Final Passage (#36) — **27–18** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Hunt — primary (person)
- Conway — cosponsor (person)
- Dhingra — cosponsor (person)
- Keiser — cosponsor (person)
- Kuderer — cosponsor (person)
- Pedersen — cosponsor (person)
- Saldaña — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-01-17** First reading, referred to Labor & Commerce. `reading-1`
- **2019-01-29** LBRC - Majority; 1st substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `passage`
- **2019-01-29** And refer to Ways & Means. `referral-committee`
- **2019-01-29** Minority; do not pass.
- **2019-01-29** Minority; without recommendation.
- **2019-01-30** Referred to Ways & Means.
- **2019-03-01** WM - Majority; do pass 1st substitute bill proposed by Labor & Commerce.
- **2019-03-01** Minority; do not pass.
- **2019-03-01** Passed to Rules Committee for second reading.
- **2019-03-05** Placed on second reading by Rules Committee.
- **2019-03-05** 1st substitute bill substituted. `substitution`
- **2019-01-29** LBRC - Majority; 1st substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `passage`
- **2019-01-29** And refer to Ways & Means. `referral-committee`
- **2019-01-29** Minority; do not pass.
- **2019-01-29** Minority; without recommendation.
- **2019-01-30** Referred to Ways & Means.
- **2019-03-01** WM - Majority; do pass 1st substitute bill proposed by Labor & Commerce.
- **2019-03-01** Minority; do not pass.
- **2019-03-01** Passed to Rules Committee for second reading.
- **2019-03-05** Placed on second reading by Rules Committee.
- **2019-03-05** 1st substitute bill substituted. `substitution`
- **2019-03-05** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading.
- **2019-03-05** Third reading, passed; yeas, 27; nays, 18; absent, 0; excused, 4. `reading-3`
- **2019-03-07** First reading, referred to Labor & Workplace Standards. `reading-1`
- **2019-03-26** LAWS - Majority; do pass.
- **2019-03-26** Minority; do not pass.
- **2019-03-29** Referred to Appropriations.
- **2019-04-08** APP - Majority; do pass.
- **2019-04-08** Minority; do not pass.
- **2019-04-08** Minority; without recommendation.
- **2019-04-09** Referred to Rules 2 Review.
- **2019-04-11** Rules Committee relieved of further consideration. Placed on second reading.
- **2019-04-12** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading.
- **2019-04-12** Third reading, passed; yeas, 61; nays, 35; absent, 0; excused, 2. `reading-3`
- **2019-04-15** President signed. `passage`
- **2019-04-18** Speaker signed. `passage`
- **2019-04-22** Delivered to Governor.
- **2019-04-26** Governor signed. `executive-signature`
- **2019-04-26** Chapter 145, 2019 Laws. `became-law`
- **2019-04-26** Effective date 7/28/2019. `became-law`
- **2019-01-21T15:00:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on Labor & Commerce at 10:00 AM
- **2019-01-29T13:00:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on Labor & Commerce at 08:00 AM
- **2019-02-18T20:30:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means at 03:30 PM
- **2019-03-01T17:20:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means at 12:20 PM
- **2019-03-21T12:00:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the House Committee on Labor & Workplace Standards at 08:00 AM
- **2019-03-26T19:30:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the House Committee on Labor & Workplace Standards at 03:30 PM
- **2019-04-06T13:00:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the House Committee on Appropriations at 09:00 AM
- **2019-04-08T13:00:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the House Committee on Appropriations at 09:00 AM

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/0548bd3e-1bae-40ce-94a9-a927e4e580da`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Washington legislature records).