---
type: "Bill"
title: "Concerning vacancies of the governing body of special purpose districts."
description: "Concerning vacancies of the governing body of special purpose districts."
jurisdiction: "us/states/wa"
legislature: "Washington Legislature"
session: "2023-2024"
identifier: "SB 5437"
citation: "Washington SB 5437 (2023-2024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["MacEwen"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 26
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2023-01-18"
last_action: "2023-05-09"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/0c11f8f7-8366-4e5a-836b-973caf3e21e6"
source_url: "http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=5437&year=2023"
source_hash: "7e0e1da340c15b74d89e23bf6eea776f4dc4c07aed39f634929389b6ae6e8f1e"
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 5437 (2023-2024) — Concerning vacancies of the governing body of special purpose districts.

## 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/5437.htm)
2. **Substitute Bill** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2023-24/Htm/Bills/Senate%20Bills/5437-S.htm)
3. **Substitute Passed Legislature** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2023-24/Htm/Bills/Senate%20Passed%20Legislature/5437-S.PL.htm)

## Votes

- Final Passage as Amended by the House (#5) — **98–0** (pass) · lower
- 3rd Reading & Final Passage (#33) — **49–0** (pass) · upper
- Final Passage as Amended by the House (#12) — **48–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

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

## Timeline

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

- **2023-01-18** First reading, referred to Local Government, Land Use & Tribal Affairs. `reading-1`
- **2023-02-02** Public hearing in the Senate Committee on Local Government, Land Use & Tribal Affairs at 10:30 AM.
- **2023-02-07** Executive action taken in the Senate Committee on Local Government, Land Use & Tribal Affairs at 8:00 AM.
- **2023-02-07** LGLT - Majority; 1st substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `substitution`
- **2023-02-08** Passed to Rules Committee for second reading.
- **2023-03-03** Placed on second reading by Rules Committee. `reading-2`
- **2023-03-08** 1st substitute bill substituted (LGLT 23). `substitution`
- **2023-03-08** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading. `reading-3`
- **2023-03-08** Third reading, passed; yeas, 49; nays, 0; absent, 0; excused, 0. `reading-3`
- **2023-03-10** First reading, referred to Local Government. `reading-1`
- **2023-03-22** Public hearing in the House Committee on Local Government at 8:00 AM.
- **2023-03-24** Executive action taken in the House Committee on Local Government at 10:30 AM.
- **2023-03-24** LG - Majority; do pass with amendment(s). `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-03-28** Referred to Rules 2 Review. `referral-committee`
- **2023-04-03** Placed on second reading by Rules Committee. `reading-2`
- **2023-04-06** Committee amendment(s) adopted as amended.
- **2023-04-06** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading. `reading-3`
- **2023-04-06** Third reading, passed; yeas, 98; nays, 0; absent, 0; excused, 0. `reading-3`
- **2023-04-18** Senate concurred in House amendments.
- **2023-04-18** Passed final passage; yeas, 48; nays, 0; absent, 0; excused, 1. `passage`
- **2023-04-19** President signed. `passage`
- **2023-04-20** Speaker signed. `passage`
- **2023-04-21** Delivered to Governor. `executive-receipt`
- **2023-05-09** Governor signed. `executive-signature`
- **2023-05-09** Chapter 369, 2023 Laws. `became-law`
- **2023-05-09** 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/0c11f8f7-8366-4e5a-836b-973caf3e21e6`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Washington legislature records).