---
type: "Bill"
title: "Concerning state employee access to peer-reviewed journals."
description: "Concerning state employee access to peer-reviewed journals."
jurisdiction: "us/states/wa"
legislature: "Washington Legislature"
session: "2025-2026"
identifier: "HB 1606"
citation: "Washington HB 1606 (2025-2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Engell"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 23
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2025-01-27"
last_action: "2025-04-16"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/62865488-2543-43ee-b388-bae7154253e8"
source_url: "https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary/?BillNumber=1606&Year=2025&Initiative=false"
source_hash: "b426f59063e04c45e635c728618fcdbe820b47c680ab354556e96b2306828cbd"
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 1606 (2025-2026) — Concerning state employee access to peer-reviewed journals.

## 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/2025-26/Htm/Bills/House%20Bills/1606.htm)
2. **Substitute Bill** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2025-26/Htm/Bills/House%20Bills/1606-S.htm)
3. **Substitute Passed Legislature** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2025-26/Htm/Bills/House%20Passed%20Legislature/1606-S.PL.htm)

## Votes

- 3rd Reading & Final Passage (#16) — **97–0** (pass) · lower
- 3rd Reading & Final Passage (#3) — **49–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Engell — primary (person)
- Bernbaum — cosponsor (person)
- Corry — cosponsor (person)
- Nance — cosponsor (person)
- Orcutt — cosponsor (person)
- Ormsby — cosponsor (person)
- Parshley — cosponsor (person)
- Ramel — cosponsor (person)
- Reed — cosponsor (person)
- Reeves — cosponsor (person)
- Waters — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2025-01-27** First reading, referred to Appropriations. `reading-1`
- **2025-02-06** Public hearing in the House Committee on Appropriations at 4:00 PM.
- **2025-02-12** Executive action taken in the House Committee on Appropriations at 4:00 PM.
- **2025-02-12** APP - Majority; 1st substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `substitution`
- **2025-02-14** Referred to Rules 2 Review. `referral-committee`
- **2025-02-18** Placed on second reading by Rules Committee. `reading-2`
- **2025-03-03** 1st substitute bill substituted (APP 25). `substitution`
- **2025-03-03** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading. `reading-3`
- **2025-03-03** Third reading, passed; yeas, 97; nays, 0; absent, 0; excused, 1. `reading-3`
- **2025-03-05** First reading, referred to State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections. `reading-1`
- **2025-03-18** Public hearing in the Senate Committee on State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections at 1:30 PM.
- **2025-03-21** Executive action taken in the Senate Committee on State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections at 10:30 AM.
- **2025-03-21** SGTE - Majority; do pass. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-03-25** Passed to Rules Committee for second reading.
- **2025-04-02** Placed on second reading consent calendar. `reading-2`
- **2025-04-07** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading. `reading-3`
- **2025-04-07** Third reading, passed; yeas, 49; nays, 0; absent, 0; excused, 0. `reading-3`
- **2025-04-09** Speaker signed. `passage`
- **2025-04-10** President signed. `passage`
- **2025-04-11** Delivered to Governor. `executive-receipt`
- **2025-04-16** Governor signed. `executive-signature`
- **2025-04-16** Chapter 64, 2025 Laws. `became-law`
- **2025-04-16** Effective date 7/27/2025. `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/62865488-2543-43ee-b388-bae7154253e8`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Washington legislature records).