---
type: "Bill"
title: "Establishing automatic waivers of select state health care laws to enable timely response by the health care system during a governor-declared statewide state of emergency."
description: "Establishing automatic waivers of select state health care laws to enable timely response by the health care system during a governor-declared statewide state of emergency."
jurisdiction: "us/states/wa"
legislature: "Washington Legislature"
session: "2021-2022"
identifier: "SB 5178"
citation: "Washington SB 5178 (2021-2022)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["COVID-19 AND CORONAVIRUS", "EMERGENCY", "STATE OF", "HEALTH AND SAFETY", "PUBLIC", "HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONS AND PROVIDERS", "HOSPITALS", "PHARMACIES AND PHARMACISTS"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Cleveland"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 32
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2021-01-13T05:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2021-05-12T04:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/b7560fb7-8ba0-4784-8f5a-7aaa76f4ba44"
source_url: "http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=5178&year=2021"
source_hash: "89cdab93f7a328d7810111a399dc15578891de7602eb7db8f6564742751fb5a3"
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 5178 (2021-2022) — Establishing automatic waivers of select state health care laws to enable timely response by the health care system during a governor-declared statewide state of emergency.

## 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/2021-22/Htm/Bills/Senate%20Bills/5178.htm)
2. **Engrossed Substitute Bill** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2021-22/Htm/Bills/Senate%20Bills/5178-S.E.htm)
3. **Substitute Bill** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2021-22/Htm/Bills/Senate%20Bills/5178-S.htm)

## Votes

- Final Passage as Amended by the House (#15) — **43–5** (pass) · upper
- 3rd Reading & Final Passage (#2) — **47–2** (pass) · upper
- Final Passage as Amended by the House (#2) — **91–6** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Cleveland — primary (person)
- C. Wilson — cosponsor (person)
- Muzzall — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-01-13T05:00:00+00:00** First reading, referred to Health & Long Term Care. `reading-1`
- **2021-01-25T05:00:00+00:00** Public hearing in the Senate Committee on Health & Long Term Care at 1:30 PM.
- **2021-01-29T05:00:00+00:00** Executive action taken in the Senate Committee on Health & Long Term Care at 8:00 AM.
- **2021-01-29T05:00:00+00:00** HLTC - Majority; 1st substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `passage`
- **2021-02-01T05:00:00+00:00** Passed to Rules Committee for second reading.
- **2021-03-05T05:00:00+00:00** Rules Committee relieved of further consideration. Placed on second reading. `reading-2`
- **2021-03-09T05:00:00+00:00** 1st substitute bill substituted (HLTC 21). `substitution`
- **2021-03-09T05:00:00+00:00** Floor amendment(s) adopted.
- **2021-03-09T05:00:00+00:00** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading. `reading-3`
- **2021-03-09T05:00:00+00:00** Third reading, passed; yeas, 47; nays, 2; absent, 0; excused, 0. `reading-3`
- **2021-03-11T05:00:00+00:00** First reading, referred to Health Care & Wellness. `reading-1`
- **2021-03-22T04:00:00+00:00** Public hearing in the House Committee on Health Care & Wellness at 1:30 PM.
- **2021-03-25T04:00:00+00:00** Executive action taken in the House Committee on Health Care & Wellness at 10:00 AM.
- **2021-03-25T04:00:00+00:00** HCW - Majority; do pass with amendment(s). `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-03-25T04:00:00+00:00** Minority; without recommendation. `committee-passage-unfavorable`
- **2021-03-26T04:00:00+00:00** Referred to Rules 2 Review. `referral-committee`
- **2021-04-08T04:00:00+00:00** Rules Committee relieved of further consideration. Placed on second reading. `reading-2`
- **2021-04-09T04:00:00+00:00** Committee amendment(s) adopted with no other amendments.
- **2021-04-09T04:00:00+00:00** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading. `reading-3`
- **2021-04-09T04:00:00+00:00** Third reading, passed; yeas, 91; nays, 6; absent, 0; excused, 1. `reading-3`
- **2021-04-14T04:00:00+00:00** Senate concurred in House amendments.
- **2021-04-14T04:00:00+00:00** Passed final passage; yeas, 43; nays, 5; absent, 0; excused, 1. `passage`
- **2021-04-20T04:00:00+00:00** President signed. `passage`
- **2021-04-23T04:00:00+00:00** Speaker signed. `passage`
- **2021-04-26T04:00:00+00:00** Delivered to Governor. `executive-receipt`
- **2021-05-12T04:00:00+00:00** Governor signed. `executive-signature`
- **2021-05-12T04:00:00+00:00** Chapter 268, 2021 Laws. `became-law`
- **2021-05-12T04:00:00+00:00** Effective date 7/25/2021. `became-law`
- **2021-01-25T18:30:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on Health & Long Term Care at 01:30 PM
- **2021-01-29T13:00:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on Health & Long Term Care at 08:00 AM
- **2021-03-22T17:30:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the House Committee on Health Care & Wellness at 01:30 PM
- **2021-03-25T14:00:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the House Committee on Health Care & Wellness at 10:00 AM

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/b7560fb7-8ba0-4784-8f5a-7aaa76f4ba44`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Washington legislature records).