---
type: "Bill"
title: "Clarifying existing law regarding liability protections associated with public recreational use of lands or waters under a hydroelectric license issued by the federal energy regulatory commission."
description: "Clarifying existing law regarding liability protections associated with public recreational use of lands or waters under a hydroelectric license issued by the federal energy regulatory commission."
jurisdiction: "us/states/wa"
legislature: "Washington Legislature"
session: "2023-2024"
identifier: "SB 5145"
citation: "Washington SB 5145 (2023-2024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Short"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 24
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2023-01-04"
last_action: "2023-04-25"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/19c81486-7bbe-4b38-bc22-ef1d540c63d7"
source_url: "http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=5145&year=2023"
source_hash: "ace01b73ad5362e8997408efda847bd271d97add729851cc64e6d9132da09755"
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 5145 (2023-2024) — Clarifying existing law regarding liability protections associated with public recreational use of lands or waters under a hydroelectric license issued by the federal energy regulatory commission.

## 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/Senate%20Bills/5145.htm)
2. **Substitute Bill** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2023-24/Htm/Bills/Senate%20Bills/5145-S.htm)
3. **Substitute Passed Legislature** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2023-24/Htm/Bills/Senate%20Passed%20Legislature/5145-S.PL.htm)

## Votes

- 3rd Reading & Final Passage (#16) — **97–0** (pass) · lower
- 3rd Reading & Final Passage (#8) — **48–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Short — primary (person)
- McCune — cosponsor (person)
- Salomon — cosponsor (person)
- Warnick — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-01-04** Prefiled for introduction. `filing`
- **2023-01-09** First reading, referred to Law & Justice. `reading-1`
- **2023-02-13** Public hearing in the Senate Committee on Law & Justice at 10:30 AM.
- **2023-02-16** Executive action taken in the Senate Committee on Law & Justice at 8:00 AM.
- **2023-02-16** LAW - Majority; 1st substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `substitution`
- **2023-02-17** Passed to Rules Committee for second reading.
- **2023-03-01** Placed on second reading by Rules Committee. `reading-2`
- **2023-03-07** 1st substitute bill substituted (LAW 23). `substitution`
- **2023-03-07** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading. `reading-3`
- **2023-03-07** Third reading, passed; yeas, 48; nays, 0; absent, 0; excused, 1. `reading-3`
- **2023-03-09** First reading, referred to Civil Rights & Judiciary. `reading-1`
- **2023-03-22** Public hearing in the House Committee on Civil Rights & Judiciary at 8:00 AM.
- **2023-03-24** Executive action taken in the House Committee on Civil Rights & Judiciary at 10:30 AM.
- **2023-03-24** CRJ - Majority; do pass. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-03-28** Referred to Rules 2 Review. `referral-committee`
- **2023-04-07** Rules Committee relieved of further consideration. Placed on second reading. `reading-2`
- **2023-04-11** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading. `reading-3`
- **2023-04-11** Third reading, passed; yeas, 97; nays, 0; absent, 0; excused, 1. `reading-3`
- **2023-04-12** President signed. `passage`
- **2023-04-14** Speaker signed. `passage`
- **2023-04-18** Delivered to Governor. `executive-receipt`
- **2023-04-25** Governor signed. `executive-signature`
- **2023-04-25** Chapter 183, 2023 Laws. `became-law`
- **2023-04-25** Effective date 7/23/2023. `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/19c81486-7bbe-4b38-bc22-ef1d540c63d7`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Washington legislature records).