---
type: "Bill"
title: "Adding special purpose and junior taxing districts to the intrastate mutual aid system."
description: "Adding special purpose and junior taxing districts to the intrastate mutual aid system."
jurisdiction: "us/states/wa"
legislature: "Washington Legislature"
session: "2023-2024"
identifier: "HB 1978"
citation: "Washington HB 1978 (2023-2024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Rule"]
version_count: 2
action_count: 23
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2023-12-20"
last_action: "2024-03-07"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/5f916d16-012a-4424-aa62-4ca6f1b5cc63"
source_url: "http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=1978&year=2023"
source_hash: "39d8b3f834d567707a2f3e35013c8fb5e019324ef0c59abeb978692d2a6df95f"
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 HB 1978 (2023-2024) — Adding special purpose and junior taxing districts to the intrastate mutual aid system.

## 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/2023-24/Htm/Bills/House%20Bills/1978.htm)
2. **Passed Legislature** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2023-24/Htm/Bills/House%20Passed%20Legislature/1978.PL.htm)

## Votes

- 3rd Reading & Final Passage (#23) — **97–0** (pass) · lower
- 3rd Reading & Final Passage (#4) — **49–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Rule — primary (person)
- Ormsby — cosponsor (person)
- Ramel — cosponsor (person)
- Reeves — cosponsor (person)
- Ryu — cosponsor (person)
- Volz — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-12-20** Prefiled for introduction. `filing`
- **2024-01-08** First reading, referred to Innovation, Community & Economic Development, & Veterans. `reading-1`
- **2024-01-09** Public hearing in the House Committee on Technology, Economic Development, & Veterans at 10:30 AM.
- **2024-01-16** Executive action taken in the House Committee on Technology, Economic Development, & Veterans at 10:30 AM.
- **2024-01-16** ICEV - Majority; do pass. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2024-01-18** Referred to Rules 2 Review. `referral-committee`
- **2024-02-02** Rules Committee relieved of further consideration. Placed on second reading. `reading-2`
- **2024-02-06** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading. `reading-3`
- **2024-02-06** Third reading, passed; yeas, 97; nays, 0; absent, 0; excused, 1. `reading-3`
- **2024-02-08** First reading, referred to State Government & Elections. `reading-1`
- **2024-02-15** Public hearing in the Senate Committee on State Government & Elections at 6:00 PM.
- **2024-02-20** Executive action taken in the Senate Committee on State Government & Elections at 1:30 PM.
- **2024-02-20** SGE - Majority; do pass. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2024-02-21** Passed to Rules Committee for second reading.
- **2024-02-23** Placed on second reading consent calendar. `reading-2`
- **2024-02-27** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading. `reading-3`
- **2024-02-27** Third reading, passed; yeas, 49; nays, 0; absent, 0; excused, 0. `reading-3`
- **2024-02-28** Speaker signed. `passage`
- **2024-02-29** President signed. `passage`
- **2024-03-01** Delivered to Governor. `executive-receipt`
- **2024-03-07** Governor signed. `executive-signature`
- **2024-03-07** Chapter 16, 2024 Laws. `became-law`
- **2024-03-07** Effective date 6/6/2024. `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/5f916d16-012a-4424-aa62-4ca6f1b5cc63`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Washington legislature records).