---
type: "Bill"
title: "Concerning health care coverage for retired or disabled employees denied coverage for failure to timely notify the authority of their intent to defer coverage."
description: "Concerning health care coverage for retired or disabled employees denied coverage for failure to timely notify the authority of their intent to defer coverage."
jurisdiction: "us/states/wa"
legislature: "Washington Legislature"
session: "2023-2024"
identifier: "SB 5490"
citation: "Washington SB 5490 (2023-2024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Rolfes"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 29
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2023-01-20"
last_action: "2023-03-30"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/affed26f-8a7d-45f4-b6b5-88671d05be88"
source_url: "http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=5490&year=2023"
source_hash: "9cc9b6abdc6dc7af549932a5fa33ac9062bbc6bb929add9cd307a29a4af3497a"
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 5490 (2023-2024) — Concerning health care coverage for retired or disabled employees denied coverage for failure to timely notify the authority of their intent to defer coverage.

## 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/5490.htm)
2. **Substitute Bill** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2023-24/Htm/Bills/Senate%20Bills/5490-S.htm)
3. **Substitute Passed Legislature** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2023-24/Htm/Bills/Senate%20Passed%20Legislature/5490-S.PL.htm)

## Votes

- 3rd Reading & Final Passage (#7) — **97–0** (pass) · lower
- 3rd Reading & Final Passage (#9) — **48–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Rolfes — primary (person)
- C. Wilson — cosponsor (person)
- Conway — cosponsor (person)
- Hunt — cosponsor (person)
- Lovick — cosponsor (person)
- Saldaña — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-01-20** First reading, referred to Health & Long Term Care. `reading-1`
- **2023-01-26** Executive action taken in the Senate Committee on Health & Long Term Care at 10:30 AM.
- **2023-01-26** HLTC - Majority; without recommendation.
- **2023-01-26** And refer to Ways & Means. `referral-committee`
- **2023-01-30** Referred to Ways & Means. `referral-committee`
- **2023-02-07** Public hearing in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means at 4:00 PM.
- **2023-02-20** Executive action taken in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means at 9:00 AM.
- **2023-02-20** WM - Majority; 1st substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `substitution`
- **2023-02-21** Passed to Rules Committee for second reading.
- **2023-02-27** Placed on second reading consent calendar. `reading-2`
- **2023-03-01** 1st substitute bill substituted (WM 23). `substitution`
- **2023-03-01** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading. `reading-3`
- **2023-03-01** Third reading, passed; yeas, 48; nays, 0; absent, 0; excused, 1. `reading-3`
- **2023-03-02** First reading, referred to Health Care & Wellness. `reading-1`
- **2023-03-02** Committee relieved of further consideration.
- **2023-03-02** Referred to Appropriations. `referral-committee`
- **2023-03-09** Public hearing in the House Committee on Appropriations at 4:00 PM.
- **2023-03-15** Executive action taken in the House Committee on Appropriations at 4:00 PM.
- **2023-03-15** APP - Majority; do pass. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-03-20** Referred to Rules 2 Review. `referral-committee`
- **2023-03-21** Rules Committee relieved of further consideration. Placed on second reading. `reading-2`
- **2023-03-22** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading. `reading-3`
- **2023-03-22** Third reading, passed; yeas, 97; nays, 0; absent, 0; excused, 1. `reading-3`
- **2023-03-23** President signed. `passage`
- **2023-03-24** Speaker signed. `passage`
- **2023-03-27** Delivered to Governor. `executive-receipt`
- **2023-03-30** Governor signed. `executive-signature`
- **2023-03-30** Chapter 15, 2023 Laws. `became-law`
- **2023-03-30** Effective date 3/30/2023. `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/affed26f-8a7d-45f4-b6b5-88671d05be88`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Washington legislature records).