---
type: "Bill"
title: "Amending the definition of timberland for purposes of determining the real estate excise tax for a governmental entity."
description: "Amending the definition of timberland for purposes of determining the real estate excise tax for a governmental entity."
jurisdiction: "us/states/wa"
legislature: "Washington Legislature"
session: "2025-2026"
identifier: "HB 1983"
citation: "Washington HB 1983 (2025-2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Tharinger"]
version_count: 2
action_count: 33
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2025-02-17"
last_action: "2026-03-24"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/55ea84e5-60f9-4163-a6be-9188e70659fa"
source_url: "https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary/?BillNumber=1983&Year=2025&Initiative=false"
source_hash: "039166802ff2903411ef7cca4f8ef833d63b46fff6e33af4293d7fcd9232eef3"
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 1983 (2025-2026) — Amending the definition of timberland for purposes of determining the real estate excise tax for a governmental entity.

## 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/1983.htm)
2. **Passed Legislature** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2025-26/Htm/Bills/House%20Passed%20Legislature/1983.PL.htm)

## Votes

- 3rd Reading & Final Passage (#13) — **68–26** (pass) · lower
- 3rd Reading & Final Passage (#5) — **30–19** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Tharinger — primary (person)
- Bernbaum — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2025-02-17** First reading, referred to Finance. `reading-1`
- **2025-02-18** Executive action taken in the House Committee on Finance at 8:00 AM.
- **2025-02-18** FIN - Majority; do pass. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-02-18** Minority; without recommendation. `committee-passage-unfavorable`
- **2025-02-20** Referred to Rules 2 Review. `referral-committee`
- **2025-04-22** Rules Committee relieved of further consideration. Placed on second reading. `reading-2`
- **2025-04-27** Referred to Rules 2 Consideration. `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-12** By resolution, reintroduced and retained in present status.
- **2026-01-12** Rules Committee relieved of further consideration.
- **2026-01-12** Referred to Finance. `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-06** Executive action taken in the House Committee on Finance at 8:00 AM.
- **2026-02-06** FIN - Majority; do pass. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-02-06** Minority; without recommendation. `committee-passage-unfavorable`
- **2026-02-09** Referred to Rules 2 Review. `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-11** Rules Committee relieved of further consideration. Placed on second reading. `reading-2`
- **2026-02-12** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading. `reading-3`
- **2026-02-12** Third reading, passed; yeas, 68; nays, 26; absent, 0; excused, 4. `reading-3`
- **2026-02-16** First reading, referred to Ways & Means. `reading-1`
- **2026-02-24** Public hearing in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means at 4:00 PM.
- **2026-03-02** Executive action taken in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means at 10:30 AM.
- **2026-03-02** WM - Majority; do pass. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-03-02** Minority; do not pass. `committee-passage-unfavorable`
- **2026-03-02** Minority; without recommendation. `committee-passage-unfavorable`
- **2026-03-02** Passed to Rules Committee for second reading.
- **2026-03-05** Placed on second reading by Rules Committee. `reading-2`
- **2026-03-06** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading. `reading-3`
- **2026-03-06** Third reading, passed; yeas, 30; nays, 19; absent, 0; excused, 0. `reading-3`
- **2026-03-06** Speaker signed. `passage`
- **2026-03-09** President signed. `passage`
- **2026-03-10** Delivered to Governor. `executive-receipt`
- **2026-03-24** Governor signed. `executive-signature`
- **2026-03-24** Chapter 171, 2026 Laws. `became-law`
- **2026-03-24** Effective date 6/11/2026. `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/55ea84e5-60f9-4163-a6be-9188e70659fa`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Washington legislature records).