---
type: "Bill"
title: "Concerning the protection of southern resident orca whales from vessels."
description: "Concerning the protection of southern resident orca whales from vessels."
jurisdiction: "us/states/wa"
legislature: "Washington Legislature"
session: "2019-2020"
identifier: "SB 5577"
citation: "Washington SB 5577 (2019-2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["WILDLIFE", "MARINE WATERS", "STATE"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Rolfes"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 57
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2019-01-24"
last_action: "2019-05-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/51a931b6-32da-4be8-b2e7-b8e6fa5b6940"
source_url: "http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=5577&year=2019"
source_hash: "ab64af31293826625d4b6fbe95b30581b76c1c631a63b29628a550ac8c81148b"
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 5577 (2019-2020) — Concerning the protection of southern resident orca whales from vessels.

## 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/5577.htm)
2. **Second Substitute Bill** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2019-20/Htm/Bills/Senate%20Bills/5577-S2.htm)
3. **Substitute Bill** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2019-20/Htm/Bills/Senate%20Bills/5577-S.htm)

## Votes

- Final Passage as Amended by the House (#18) — **44–5** (pass) · upper
- 3rd Reading & Final Passage (#9) — **46–3** (pass) · upper
- Final Passage as Amended by the House (#5) — **84–13** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Rolfes — primary (person)
- Dhingra — cosponsor (person)
- Frockt — cosponsor (person)
- Hunt — cosponsor (person)
- Keiser — cosponsor (person)
- Kuderer — cosponsor (person)
- Liias — cosponsor (person)
- McCoy — cosponsor (person)
- Saldaña — cosponsor (person)
- Wilson, C. — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-01-24** First reading, referred to Agriculture, Water, Natural Resources & Parks. `reading-1`
- **2019-02-21** AWNP - Majority; 1st substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `passage`
- **2019-02-21** And refer to Ways & Means. `referral-committee`
- **2019-02-21** Minority; without recommendation.
- **2019-02-22** Referred to Ways & Means.
- **2019-02-28** WM - Majority; 2nd substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `passage`
- **2019-02-28** Minority; do not pass.
- **2019-02-28** Minority; without recommendation.
- **2019-03-01** Passed to Rules Committee for second reading.
- **2019-03-05** Placed on second reading by Rules Committee.
- **2019-03-07** 2nd substitute bill substituted. `substitution`
- **2019-02-21** AWNP - Majority; 1st substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `passage`
- **2019-02-21** And refer to Ways & Means. `referral-committee`
- **2019-02-21** Minority; without recommendation.
- **2019-02-22** Referred to Ways & Means.
- **2019-02-28** WM - Majority; 2nd substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `passage`
- **2019-02-28** Minority; do not pass.
- **2019-02-28** Minority; without recommendation.
- **2019-03-01** Passed to Rules Committee for second reading.
- **2019-03-05** Placed on second reading by Rules Committee.
- **2019-03-07** 2nd substitute bill substituted. `substitution`
- **2019-02-28** WM - Majority; 2nd substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `passage`
- **2019-02-28** Minority; do not pass.
- **2019-02-28** Minority; without recommendation.
- **2019-03-01** Passed to Rules Committee for second reading.
- **2019-03-05** Placed on second reading by Rules Committee.
- **2019-03-07** 2nd substitute bill substituted. `substitution`
- **2019-03-07** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading.
- **2019-03-07** Third reading, passed; yeas, 46; nays, 3; absent, 0; excused, 0. `reading-3`
- **2019-03-09** First reading, referred to Rural Development, Agriculture, & Natural Resources. `reading-1`
- **2019-03-27** RDAN - Majority; do pass.
- **2019-03-27** Minority; do not pass.
- **2019-03-29** Referred to Appropriations.
- **2019-04-08** APP - Majority; do pass with amendment(s).
- **2019-04-08** Minority; do not pass.
- **2019-04-08** Minority; without recommendation.
- **2019-04-09** Referred to Rules 2 Review.
- **2019-04-12** Rules Committee relieved of further consideration. Placed on second reading.
- **2019-04-15** Committee recommendations adopted and the bill amended.
- **2019-04-15** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading.
- **2019-04-15** Third reading, passed; yeas, 84; nays, 13; absent, 0; excused, 1. `reading-3`
- **2019-04-22** Senate concurred in House amendments.
- **2019-04-22** Passed final passage; yeas, 44; nays, 5; absent, 0; excused, 0. `passage`
- **2019-04-23** President signed. `passage`
- **2019-04-24** Speaker signed. `passage`
- **2019-04-25** Delivered to Governor.
- **2019-05-08** Governor signed. `executive-signature`
- **2019-05-08** Chapter 291, 2019 Laws. `became-law`
- **2019-05-08** Effective date 7/28/2019*. `became-law`
- **2019-02-12T18:30:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Water, Natural Resources & Parks at 01:30 PM
- **2019-02-21T18:30:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Water, Natural Resources & Parks at 01:30 PM
- **2019-02-27T18:30:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means at 01:30 PM
- **2019-02-28T18:30:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means at 01:30 PM
- **2019-03-27T12:00:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the House Committee on Rural Development, Agriculture, & Natural Resources 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
- **2019-04-08T13:00:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the House Committee on Appropriations at 09:00 AM
- **2019-03-20T12:00:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the House Committee on Rural Development, Agriculture, & Natural Resources at 08:00 AM

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/51a931b6-32da-4be8-b2e7-b8e6fa5b6940`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Washington legislature records).