---
type: "Bill"
title: "Reducing barriers to state employment by eliminating postgraduate degree requirements that are unnecessary."
description: "Reducing barriers to state employment by eliminating postgraduate degree requirements that are unnecessary."
jurisdiction: "us/states/wa"
legislature: "Washington Legislature"
session: "2025-2026"
identifier: "HB 2309"
citation: "Washington HB 2309 (2025-2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Leavitt"]
version_count: 2
action_count: 23
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2026-01-07"
last_action: "2026-03-14"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/c8df05ff-d51d-49c7-a611-fa49f5abfd51"
source_url: "https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary/?BillNumber=2309&Year=2025&Initiative=false"
source_hash: "4ebeab8f54fd52b79b4eaadfbda267df9e7d4ff7b2ee9eff70b4a59dd32743c7"
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 2309 (2025-2026) — Reducing barriers to state employment by eliminating postgraduate degree requirements that are unnecessary.

## 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/2309.htm)
2. **Passed Legislature** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2025-26/Htm/Bills/House%20Passed%20Legislature/2309.PL.htm)

## Votes

- 3rd Reading & Final Passage (#6) — **48–0** (pass) · upper
- 3rd Reading & Final Passage (#5) — **97–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Leavitt — primary (person)
- Doglio — cosponsor (person)
- Jacobsen — cosponsor (person)
- Kloba — cosponsor (person)
- Ormsby — cosponsor (person)
- Reed — cosponsor (person)
- Rude — cosponsor (person)
- Zahn — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-01-07** Prefiled for introduction. `filing`
- **2026-01-12** First reading, referred to State Government & Tribal Relations. `reading-1`
- **2026-01-16** Public hearing in the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations at 8:00 AM.
- **2026-01-20** Executive action taken in the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations at 1:30 PM.
- **2026-01-20** SGOV - Majority; do pass. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-01-22** Referred to Rules 2 Review. `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-27** Rules Committee relieved of further consideration. Placed on second reading. `reading-2`
- **2026-01-29** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading. `reading-3`
- **2026-01-29** Third reading, passed; yeas, 97; nays, 0; absent, 0; excused, 1. `reading-3`
- **2026-02-02** First reading, referred to State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections. `reading-1`
- **2026-02-16** Public hearing in the Senate Committee on State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections at 8:30 AM.
- **2026-02-24** Executive action taken in the Senate Committee on State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections at 1:30 PM.
- **2026-02-24** SGTE - Majority; do pass. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-02-25** Passed to Rules Committee for second reading.
- **2026-02-27** Placed on second reading consent calendar. `reading-2`
- **2026-03-04** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading. `reading-3`
- **2026-03-04** Third reading, passed; yeas, 48; nays, 0; absent, 0; excused, 1. `reading-3`
- **2026-03-05** Speaker signed. `passage`
- **2026-03-06** President signed. `passage`
- **2026-03-06** Delivered to Governor. `executive-receipt`
- **2026-03-14** Governor signed. `executive-signature`
- **2026-03-14** Chapter 38, 2026 Laws. `became-law`
- **2026-03-14** 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/c8df05ff-d51d-49c7-a611-fa49f5abfd51`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Washington legislature records).