---
type: "Bill"
title: "Expanding eligibility to the early childhood education and assistance program."
description: "Expanding eligibility to the early childhood education and assistance program."
jurisdiction: "us/states/wa"
legislature: "Washington Legislature"
session: "2019-2020"
identifier: "SB 5437"
citation: "Washington SB 5437 (2019-2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["CHILDREN", "YOUTH", "AND FAMILIES", "DEPARTMENT"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Wilson, C."]
version_count: 3
action_count: 54
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2019-01-21"
last_action: "2019-05-21"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/5701d455-9636-4dfe-9eaf-ff8dc2056c9b"
source_url: "http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=5437&year=2019"
source_hash: "2cc261256ebe77b8b3278b1f5827b3806be291b4788403379a2f510704af82a2"
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 5437 (2019-2020) — Expanding eligibility to the early childhood education and assistance program.

## 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/5437.htm)
2. **Second Substitute Bill** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2019-20/Htm/Bills/Senate%20Bills/5437-S2.htm)
3. **Substitute Bill** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2019-20/Htm/Bills/Senate%20Bills/5437-S.htm)

## Votes

- 3rd Reading & Final Passage (#8) — **47–1** (pass) · upper
- Final Passage as Amended by the House (#13) — **89–8** (pass) · lower
- Final Passage as Amended by the House (#7) — **45–2** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Wilson, C. — primary (person)
- Billig — cosponsor (person)
- Darneille — cosponsor (person)
- Das — cosponsor (person)
- Dhingra — cosponsor (person)
- Hasegawa — cosponsor (person)
- Hunt — cosponsor (person)
- Kuderer — cosponsor (person)
- Mullet — cosponsor (person)
- Nguyen — cosponsor (person)
- Palumbo — cosponsor (person)
- Randall — cosponsor (person)
- Saldaña — cosponsor (person)
- Takko — cosponsor (person)
- Wellman — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-01-21** First reading, referred to Early Learning & K-12 Education. `reading-1`
- **2019-02-12** EDU - Majority; 1st substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `passage`
- **2019-02-12** And refer to Ways & Means. `referral-committee`
- **2019-02-12** Minority; without recommendation.
- **2019-02-14** Referred to Ways & Means.
- **2019-03-01** WM - Majority; 2nd substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `passage`
- **2019-03-01** Minority; without recommendation.
- **2019-03-01** Passed to Rules Committee for second reading.
- **2019-03-05** Placed on second reading by Rules Committee.
- **2019-03-06** 2nd substitute bill substituted. `substitution`
- **2019-02-12** EDU - Majority; 1st substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `passage`
- **2019-02-12** And refer to Ways & Means. `referral-committee`
- **2019-02-12** Minority; without recommendation.
- **2019-02-14** Referred to Ways & Means.
- **2019-03-01** WM - Majority; 2nd substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `passage`
- **2019-03-01** Minority; without recommendation.
- **2019-03-01** Passed to Rules Committee for second reading.
- **2019-03-05** Placed on second reading by Rules Committee.
- **2019-03-06** 2nd substitute bill substituted. `substitution`
- **2019-03-01** WM - Majority; 2nd substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `passage`
- **2019-03-01** Minority; without recommendation.
- **2019-03-01** Passed to Rules Committee for second reading.
- **2019-03-05** Placed on second reading by Rules Committee.
- **2019-03-06** 2nd substitute bill substituted. `substitution`
- **2019-03-06** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading.
- **2019-03-06** Third reading, passed; yeas, 47; nays, 1; absent, 0; excused, 1. `reading-3`
- **2019-03-08** First reading, referred to Human Services & Early Learning. `reading-1`
- **2019-03-22** HSEL - Majority; do pass with amendment(s).
- **2019-03-22** Minority; do not pass.
- **2019-03-22** Minority; without recommendation.
- **2019-03-27** Referred to Appropriations.
- **2019-04-06** APP - Majority; do pass with amendment(s) by Housing, Community Development & Veterans.
- **2019-04-06** Minority; do not pass.
- **2019-04-09** Referred to Rules 2 Review.
- **2019-04-10** Rules Committee relieved of further consideration. Placed on second reading.
- **2019-04-11** Committee recommendations adopted and the bill amended.
- **2019-04-11** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading.
- **2019-04-11** Third reading, passed; yeas, 89; nays, 8; absent, 0; excused, 1. `reading-3`
- **2019-04-22** Senate concurred in House amendments.
- **2019-04-22** Passed final passage; yeas, 45; nays, 2; absent, 0; excused, 2. `passage`
- **2019-04-23** President signed. `passage`
- **2019-04-24** Speaker signed. `passage`
- **2019-04-25** Delivered to Governor.
- **2019-05-21** Governor signed. `executive-signature`
- **2019-05-21** Chapter 408, 2019 Laws. `became-law`
- **2019-05-21** Effective date 7/28/2019**. `became-law`
- **2019-02-04T18:30:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on Early Learning & K-12 Education at 01:30 PM
- **2019-02-12T17:05:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on Early Learning & K-12 Education at 12:05 PM
- **2019-02-28T18:30:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means at 01:30 PM
- **2019-03-01T17:20:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means at 12:20 PM
- **2019-03-15T13:00:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the House Committee on Human Services & Early Learning at 09:00 AM
- **2019-03-22T12:00:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the House Committee on Human Services & Early Learning at 08:00 AM
- **2019-04-05T17:30:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the House Committee on Appropriations at 01:30 PM
- **2019-04-06T13:00:00+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/5701d455-9636-4dfe-9eaf-ff8dc2056c9b`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Washington legislature records).