---
type: "Bill"
title: "Concerning the authority of investigators of the attorney general's office."
description: "Concerning the authority of investigators of the attorney general's office."
jurisdiction: "us/states/wa"
legislature: "Washington Legislature"
session: "2025-2026"
identifier: "HB 2156"
citation: "Washington HB 2156 (2025-2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Obras"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 32
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2025-12-16"
last_action: "2026-03-30"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/f3832162-2e5b-414e-942a-d2ef98e76d6c"
source_url: "https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary/?BillNumber=2156&Year=2025&Initiative=false"
source_hash: "159f977f80b0bd54d5fae147a376a9c55a4cb0582e52afe5a36071da1fce0b8f"
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 2156 (2025-2026) — Concerning the authority of investigators of the attorney general's office.

## 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/2156.htm)
2. **Engrossed Bill** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2025-26/Htm/Bills/House%20Bills/2156.E.htm)
3. **Passed Legislature** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2025-26/Htm/Bills/House%20Passed%20Legislature/2156.PL.htm)

## Votes

- Final Passage as Amended by the Senate on Reconsideration (#9) — **54–41** (pass) · lower
- 3rd Reading & Final Passage as Amended by the Senate (#30) — **29–19** (pass) · upper
- Final Passage as Amended by the Senate (#8) — **54–33** (pass) · lower
- 3rd Reading & Final Passage (#20) — **54–43** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Obras — primary (person)
- Fosse — cosponsor (person)
- Fosse — cosponsor (person)
- Goodman — cosponsor (person)
- Goodman — cosponsor (person)
- Gregerson — cosponsor (person)
- Gregerson — cosponsor (person)
- Leavitt — cosponsor (person)
- Leavitt — cosponsor (person)
- Macri — cosponsor (person)
- Macri — cosponsor (person)
- Obras — cosponsor (person)
- Ormsby — cosponsor (person)
- Ormsby — cosponsor (person)
- Reed — cosponsor (person)
- Reed — cosponsor (person)
- Reeves — cosponsor (person)
- Reeves — cosponsor (person)
- Salahuddin — cosponsor (person)
- Salahuddin — cosponsor (person)
- Thai — cosponsor (person)
- Thai — cosponsor (person)
- Thomas — cosponsor (person)
- Thomas — cosponsor (person)
- Zahn — cosponsor (person)
- Zahn — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2025-12-16** Prefiled for introduction. `filing`
- **2026-01-12** First reading, referred to Community Safety (Not Officially read and referred until adoption of Introduction report). `reading-1`
- **2026-01-12** Public hearing in the House Committee on Community Safety at 1:30 PM.
- **2026-01-12** First reading, referred to Community Safety. `reading-1`
- **2026-01-22** Executive action taken in the House Committee on Community Safety at 8:00 AM.
- **2026-01-22** CS - Majority; do pass. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-01-22** Minority; do not pass. `committee-passage-unfavorable`
- **2026-01-23** Referred to Rules 2 Review. `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-10** Rules Committee relieved of further consideration. Placed on second reading. `reading-2`
- **2026-02-16** Floor amendment(s) adopted.
- **2026-02-16** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading. `reading-3`
- **2026-02-16** Third reading, passed; yeas, 54; nays, 43; absent, 0; excused, 1. `reading-3`
- **2026-02-18** First reading, referred to Law & Justice. `reading-1`
- **2026-02-20** Public hearing in the Senate Committee on Law & Justice at 2:00 PM.
- **2026-02-24** Executive action taken in the Senate Committee on Law & Justice at 8:00 AM.
- **2026-02-24** LAW - Majority; do pass with amendment(s). `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-02-24** Minority; do not pass. `committee-passage-unfavorable`
- **2026-02-25** Passed to Rules Committee for second reading.
- **2026-03-03** Placed on second reading by Rules Committee. `reading-2`
- **2026-03-05** Committee amendment(s) adopted with no other amendments.
- **2026-03-05** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading. `reading-3`
- **2026-03-05** Third reading, passed; yeas, 29; nays, 19; absent, 0; excused, 1. `reading-3`
- **2026-03-11** House concurred in Senate amendments.
- **2026-03-11** Passed final passage; yeas, 54; nays, 33; absent, 8; excused, 3. `passage`
- **2026-03-11** Vote on final passage will be reconsidered.
- **2026-03-11** Passed final passage; yeas, 54; nays, 41; absent, 0; excused, 3. `passage`
- **2026-03-11** Speaker signed. `passage`
- **2026-03-11** President signed. `passage`
- **2026-03-12** Delivered to Governor. `executive-receipt`
- **2026-03-30** Governor signed. `executive-signature`
- **2026-03-30** Chapter 242, 2026 Laws. `became-law`
- **2026-03-30** 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/f3832162-2e5b-414e-942a-d2ef98e76d6c`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Washington legislature records).