---
type: "Bill"
title: "Clarifying the powers, duties, and functions of the department of veterans affairs."
description: "Clarifying the powers, duties, and functions of the department of veterans affairs."
jurisdiction: "us/states/wa"
legislature: "Washington Legislature"
session: "2017-2018"
identifier: "SB 5391"
citation: "Washington SB 5391 (2017-2018)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["VETERANS", "VETERANS AFFAIRS", "DEPARTMENT"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Zeiger"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 21
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2017-01-23"
last_action: "2017-05-04"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/26aa7bd4-3acf-472b-94da-6b7dbd46f463"
source_url: "http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=5391&year=2017"
source_hash: "7b21c35c3e785a657a0f8e969e78c0c409dd9574cad3cf3afd8b49fa773a3b6c"
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 5391 (2017-2018) — Clarifying the powers, duties, and functions of the department of veterans affairs.

## 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/2017-18/Htm/Bills/Senate%20Bills/5391.htm)

## Votes

- 3rd Reading & Final Passage (#24) — **49–0** (pass) · upper
- Final Passage as Amended by the House (#1) — **96–0** (pass) · lower
- Final Passage as Amended by the House (#26) — **49–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Zeiger — primary (person)
- Chase — cosponsor (person)
- Conway — cosponsor (person)
- Hobbs — cosponsor (person)
- Hunt — cosponsor (person)
- O'Ban — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2017-01-23** First reading, referred to State Government. `reading-1`
- **2017-02-17** SGOV - Majority; do pass.
- **2017-02-17** Passed to Rules Committee for second reading.
- **2017-02-21** Placed on second reading by Rules Committee.
- **2017-02-28** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading.
- **2017-02-28** Third reading, passed; yeas, 49; nays, 0; absent, 0; excused, 0. `reading-3`
- **2017-03-02** First reading, referred to Community Development, Housing & Tribal Affairs (Not Officially read and referred until adoption of Introduction report). `reading-1`
- **2017-03-15** CDHT - Majority; do pass.
- **2017-03-17** Referred to Rules 2 Review.
- **2017-03-31** Placed on second reading by Rules Committee.
- **2017-04-07** Floor amendment(s) adopted.
- **2017-04-07** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading.
- **2017-04-07** Third reading, passed; yeas, 96; nays, 0; absent, 0; excused, 2. `reading-3`
- **2017-04-17** Senate concurred in House amendments.
- **2017-04-17** Passed final passage; yeas, 49; nays, 0; absent, 0; excused, 0. `passage`
- **2017-04-19** President signed. `passage`
- **2017-04-20** Speaker signed. `passage`
- **2017-04-21** Delivered to Governor.
- **2017-05-04** Governor signed. `executive-signature`
- **2017-05-04** Chapter 185, 2017 Laws. `became-law`
- **2017-05-04** Effective date 7/23/2017. `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/26aa7bd4-3acf-472b-94da-6b7dbd46f463`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Washington legislature records).