---
type: "Bill"
title: "Expanding collective bargaining for employees who are enrolled in academic programs at public institutions of higher education."
description: "Expanding collective bargaining for employees who are enrolled in academic programs at public institutions of higher education."
jurisdiction: "us/states/wa"
legislature: "Washington Legislature"
session: "2023-2024"
identifier: "SB 5238"
citation: "Washington SB 5238 (2023-2024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Saldaña"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 38
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2023-01-10"
last_action: "2023-04-20"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/a58e0363-0f25-4d3e-b456-c9bfcce58b7b"
source_url: "http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=5238&year=2023"
source_hash: "11aa4adfa6a607c1087155534588550e13e164b351602708683580896254ec10"
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 5238 (2023-2024) — Expanding collective bargaining for employees who are enrolled in academic programs at public institutions of higher education.

## 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/5238.htm)
2. **Substitute Bill** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2023-24/Htm/Bills/Senate%20Bills/5238-S.htm)
3. **Substitute Passed Legislature** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2023-24/Htm/Bills/Senate%20Passed%20Legislature/5238-S.PL.htm)

## Votes

- 3rd Reading & Final Passage (#25) — **72–24** (pass) · lower
- 3rd Reading & Final Passage (#19) — **34–15** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Saldaña — primary (person)
- C. Wilson — cosponsor (person)
- Conway — cosponsor (person)
- Frame — cosponsor (person)
- Hasegawa — cosponsor (person)
- Hunt — cosponsor (person)
- Keiser — cosponsor (person)
- Kuderer — cosponsor (person)
- Lovelett — cosponsor (person)
- Nguyen — cosponsor (person)
- Nobles — cosponsor (person)
- Randall — cosponsor (person)
- Shewmake — cosponsor (person)
- Stanford — cosponsor (person)
- Valdez — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-01-10** First reading, referred to Labor & Commerce. `reading-1`
- **2023-01-23** Public hearing in the Senate Committee on Labor & Commerce at 10:30 AM.
- **2023-01-31** Executive action taken in the Senate Committee on Labor & Commerce at 10:30 AM.
- **2023-01-31** LC - Majority; do pass. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-01-31** And refer to Ways & Means. `referral-committee`
- **2023-01-31** Minority; do not pass. `committee-passage-unfavorable`
- **2023-01-31** Minority; without recommendation. `committee-passage-unfavorable`
- **2023-02-01** Referred to Ways & Means. `referral-committee`
- **2023-02-21** Public hearing in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means at 9:00 AM.
- **2023-02-24** Executive action taken in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means at 9:00 AM.
- **2023-02-24** WM - Majority; 1st substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `substitution`
- **2023-02-24** Minority; do not pass. `committee-passage-unfavorable`
- **2023-02-24** Minority; without recommendation. `committee-passage-unfavorable`
- **2023-02-24** Passed to Rules Committee for second reading.
- **2023-03-01** Placed on second reading by Rules Committee. `reading-2`
- **2023-03-02** 1st substitute bill substituted (WM 23). `substitution`
- **2023-03-02** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading. `reading-3`
- **2023-03-02** Third reading, passed; yeas, 34; nays, 15; absent, 0; excused, 0. `reading-3`
- **2023-03-04** First reading, referred to Labor & Workplace Standards. `reading-1`
- **2023-03-21** Public hearing in the House Committee on Labor & Workplace Standards at 10:30 AM.
- **2023-03-24** Executive action taken in the House Committee on Labor & Workplace Standards at 10:30 AM.
- **2023-03-24** LAWS - Majority; do pass. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-03-28** Referred to Appropriations. `referral-committee`
- **2023-04-01** Public hearing in the House Committee on Appropriations at 9:00 AM.
- **2023-04-03** Executive action taken in the House Committee on Appropriations at 9:00 AM.
- **2023-04-03** APP - Majority; do pass. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-04-03** Minority; do not pass. `committee-passage-unfavorable`
- **2023-04-03** Minority; without recommendation. `committee-passage-unfavorable`
- **2023-04-04** Referred to Rules 2 Review. `referral-committee`
- **2023-04-06** Rules Committee relieved of further consideration. Placed on second reading. `reading-2`
- **2023-04-06** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading. `reading-3`
- **2023-04-06** Third reading, passed; yeas, 72; nays, 24; absent, 0; excused, 2. `reading-3`
- **2023-04-07** President signed. `passage`
- **2023-04-07** Speaker signed. `passage`
- **2023-04-14** Delivered to Governor. `executive-receipt`
- **2023-04-20** Governor signed. `executive-signature`
- **2023-04-20** Chapter 115, 2023 Laws. `became-law`
- **2023-04-20** Effective date 4/20/2023. `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/a58e0363-0f25-4d3e-b456-c9bfcce58b7b`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Washington legislature records).