---
type: "Bill"
title: "Eliminating or narrowing certain tax preferences to increase state revenue for essential public services."
description: "Eliminating or narrowing certain tax preferences to increase state revenue for essential public services."
jurisdiction: "us/states/wa"
legislature: "Washington Legislature"
session: "2019-2020"
identifier: "SB 5997"
citation: "Washington SB 5997 (2019-2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["BUSINESSES", "TAX PREFERENCES - EXEMPTIONS", "CREDITS", "DEDUCTIONS", "DEFERRALS", "ETC.", "PROFESSIONS"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Rolfes"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 25
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2019-03-29"
last_action: "2019-05-21"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/eb613a8d-48de-4a97-975b-925a212900bc"
source_url: "http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=5997&year=2019"
source_hash: "bbe3de4500314e8619d9dbf93ddabb0c07af796473c793ed7a62b3668da436f7"
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 5997 (2019-2020) — Eliminating or narrowing certain tax preferences to increase state revenue for essential public services.

## 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/5997.htm)
2. **Engrossed Substitute Bill** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2019-20/Htm/Bills/Senate%20Bills/5997-S.E.htm)
3. **Substitute Bill** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2019-20/Htm/Bills/Senate%20Bills/5997-S.htm)

## Votes

- Final Passage (#7) — **55–43** (pass) · lower
- 3rd Reading & Final Passage (#24) — **25–22** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Rolfes — primary (person)
- Hunt — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-03-29** First reading, referred to Ways & Means. `reading-1`
- **2019-04-18** WM - Majority; 1st substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `passage`
- **2019-04-18** Minority; do not pass.
- **2019-04-19** Rules suspended.
- **2019-04-19** Placed on second reading.
- **2019-04-25** 1st substitute bill substituted. `substitution`
- **2019-04-18** WM - Majority; 1st substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `passage`
- **2019-04-18** Minority; do not pass.
- **2019-04-19** Rules suspended.
- **2019-04-19** Placed on second reading.
- **2019-04-25** 1st substitute bill substituted. `substitution`
- **2019-04-25** Floor amendment(s) adopted.
- **2019-04-25** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading.
- **2019-04-25** Third reading, passed; yeas, 25; nays, 22; absent, 0; excused, 2. `reading-3`
- **2019-04-26** Read first time, rules suspended, and placed on second reading calendar. `reading-1`
- **2019-04-27** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading.
- **2019-04-27** Third reading, passed; yeas, 55; nays, 43; absent, 0; excused, 0. `reading-3`
- **2019-04-28** President signed. `passage`
- **2019-04-28** Speaker signed. `passage`
- **2019-04-30** Delivered to Governor.
- **2019-05-21** Governor signed. `executive-signature`
- **2019-05-21** Chapter 423, 2019 Laws. `became-law`
- **2019-05-21** Effective date 7/1/2019. `became-law`
- **2019-04-08T17:30:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means at 01:30 PM
- **2019-04-18T13:00:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means 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/eb613a8d-48de-4a97-975b-925a212900bc`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Washington legislature records).