---
type: "Bill"
title: "Concerning the involuntary treatment act."
description: "Concerning the involuntary treatment act."
jurisdiction: "us/states/wa"
legislature: "Washington Legislature"
session: "2019-2020"
identifier: "SB 5720"
citation: "Washington SB 5720 (2019-2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER", "MENTAL HEALTH"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Dhingra"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 70
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2019-01-29"
last_action: "2020-04-02"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/b86fc970-30a3-4d3c-8237-1f42a0750505"
source_url: "http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=5720&year=2019"
source_hash: "1070867bd59f4fb2e469bc7b03431746f92a107953ba72cee19f355f62b5bb7b"
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 5720 (2019-2020) — Concerning the involuntary treatment act.

## 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/5720.htm)
2. **Engrossed Second Substitute Bill** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2019-20/Htm/Bills/Senate%20Bills/5720-S2.E.htm)
3. **Second Engrossed Second Substitute Bill** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2019-20/Htm/Bills/Senate%20Bills/5720-S2.E2.htm)
4. **Second Substitute Bill** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2019-20/Htm/Bills/Senate%20Bills/5720-S2.htm)
5. **Substitute Bill** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2019-20/Htm/Bills/Senate%20Bills/5720-S.htm)

## Votes

- 3rd Reading & Final Passage (#17) — **46–2** (pass) · upper
- Final Passage as Amended by the House (#26) — **48–1** (pass) · upper
- Final Passage as Amended by the House (#16) — **95–2** (pass) · lower
- 3rd Reading & Final Passage (#3) — **44–3** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Dhingra — primary (person)
- Kuderer — cosponsor (person)
- Wagoner — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-01-29** First reading, referred to Health & Long Term Care. `reading-1`
- **2019-01-30** Referred to Behavioral Health Subcommittee to Health & Long Term Care.
- **2019-02-15** BH - Majority; 1st substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `passage`
- **2019-02-15** And refer to Ways & Means. `referral-committee`
- **2019-02-18** Referred to Ways & Means.
- **2019-02-28** WM - Majority; 2nd substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `passage`
- **2019-02-28** Minority; without recommendation.
- **2019-03-01** Passed to Rules Committee for second reading.
- **2019-03-07** Placed on second reading by Rules Committee.
- **2019-03-07** 2nd substitute bill substituted. `substitution`
- **2019-02-15** BH - Majority; 1st substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `passage`
- **2019-02-15** And refer to Ways & Means. `referral-committee`
- **2019-02-18** Referred to Ways & Means.
- **2019-02-28** WM - Majority; 2nd substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `passage`
- **2019-02-28** Minority; without recommendation.
- **2019-03-01** Passed to Rules Committee for second reading.
- **2019-03-07** 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; without recommendation.
- **2019-03-01** Passed to Rules Committee for second reading.
- **2019-03-07** Placed on second reading by Rules Committee.
- **2019-03-07** 2nd substitute bill substituted. `substitution`
- **2019-03-07** Floor amendment(s) adopted.
- **2019-03-07** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading.
- **2019-03-07** Third reading, passed; yeas, 46; nays, 2; absent, 0; excused, 1. `reading-3`
- **2019-03-09** First reading, referred to Civil Rights & Judiciary. `reading-1`
- **2019-03-28** CRJ - Majority; do pass with amendment(s).
- **2019-03-28** Minority; do not pass.
- **2019-04-02** Referred to Appropriations.
- **2019-04-28** By resolution, returned to Senate Rules Committee for third reading.
- **2020-01-13** By resolution, reintroduced and retained in present status.
- **2020-01-13** Placed on third reading by Rules Committee.
- **2020-01-24** Rules suspended.
- **2020-01-24** Returned to second reading for amendment.
- **2020-01-24** Floor amendment(s) adopted.
- **2020-01-24** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading.
- **2020-01-24** Third reading, passed; yeas, 44; nays, 3; absent, 0; excused, 2. `reading-3`
- **2020-01-29** First reading, referred to Civil Rights & Judiciary. `reading-1`
- **2020-02-28** CRJ - Majority; do pass with amendment(s).
- **2020-02-28** Minority; without recommendation.
- **2020-02-28** Referred to Appropriations.
- **2020-03-02** APP - Majority; do pass without amendment(s) by Civil Rights & Judiciary.
- **2020-03-02** Minority; do not pass.
- **2020-03-03** Referred to Rules 2 Review.
- **2020-03-04** Rules Committee relieved of further consideration. Placed on second reading.
- **2020-03-05** Committee amendment not adopted. `amendment-failure`
- **2020-03-05** Committee amendment(s) adopted as amended.
- **2020-03-05** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading.
- **2020-03-05** Third reading, passed; yeas, 95; nays, 2; absent, 0; excused, 1. `reading-3`
- **2020-03-10** Senate concurred in House amendments.
- **2020-03-10** Passed final passage; yeas, 48; nays, 1; absent, 0; excused, 0. `passage`
- **2020-03-12** President signed. `passage`
- **2020-03-12** Speaker signed. `passage`
- **2020-03-12** Delivered to Governor.
- **2020-04-02** Governor signed. `executive-signature`
- **2020-04-02** Chapter 302, 2020 Laws. `became-law`
- **2020-04-02** Effective date 6/11/2020**. `became-law`
- **2019-01-30T18:30:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on Health & Long Term Care at 01:30 PM
- **2019-02-01T18:30:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on Behavioral Health Subcommittee to Health & Long Term Care at 01:30 PM
- **2019-02-15T18:30:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on Behavioral Health Subcommittee to Health & Long Term Care at 01:30 PM
- **2019-02-26T18:30:00+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
- **2019-03-20T12:00:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the House Committee on Civil Rights & Judiciary at 08:00 AM
- **2019-03-28T19:30:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the House Committee on Civil Rights & Judiciary 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
- **2020-02-21T15:00:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the House Committee on Civil Rights & Judiciary at 10:00 AM
- **2020-02-28T13:00:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the House Committee on Civil Rights & Judiciary at 08:00 AM
- **2020-02-29T14:00:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the House Committee on Appropriations at 09:00 AM
- **2020-03-02T18:30:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the House Committee on Appropriations at 01:30 PM

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/b86fc970-30a3-4d3c-8237-1f42a0750505`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Washington legislature records).