---
type: "Bill"
title: "Reducing barriers to state employment by eliminating two-year and four-year degree requirements that are unnecessary."
description: "Reducing barriers to state employment by eliminating two-year and four-year degree requirements that are unnecessary."
jurisdiction: "us/states/wa"
legislature: "Washington Legislature"
session: "2023-2024"
identifier: "HB 2216"
citation: "Washington HB 2216 (2023-2024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Cheney"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 23
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2024-01-09"
last_action: "2024-03-13"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/abf4ee43-a5ae-414c-a24a-a69064b2c127"
source_url: "http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=2216&year=2023"
source_hash: "b7279f7fd2f1f05dd2d2d7450640e0f7ca8e2ee328d10f748e47b11ac2d282b0"
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 2216 (2023-2024) — Reducing barriers to state employment by eliminating two-year and four-year 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/2023-24/Htm/Bills/House%20Bills/2216.htm)
2. **Substitute Bill** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2023-24/Htm/Bills/House%20Bills/2216-S.htm)
3. **Substitute Passed Legislature** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2023-24/Htm/Bills/House%20Passed%20Legislature/2216-S.PL.htm)

## Votes

- 3rd Reading & Final Passage (#15) — **49–0** (pass) · upper
- 3rd Reading & Final Passage (#20) — **96–1** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Cheney — primary (person)
- Couture — cosponsor (person)
- Davis — cosponsor (person)
- Graham — cosponsor (person)
- Leavitt — cosponsor (person)
- Reed — cosponsor (person)
- Rude — cosponsor (person)
- Santos — cosponsor (person)
- Walen — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2024-01-09** First reading, referred to State Government & Tribal Relations. `reading-1`
- **2024-01-24** Public hearing in the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations at 1:30 PM.
- **2024-01-30** Executive action taken in the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations at 1:30 PM.
- **2024-01-30** SGOV - Majority; 1st substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `substitution`
- **2024-01-31** Referred to Rules 2 Review. `referral-committee`
- **2024-02-02** Rules Committee relieved of further consideration. Placed on second reading. `reading-2`
- **2024-02-08** 1st substitute bill substituted (SGOV 24). `substitution`
- **2024-02-08** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading. `reading-3`
- **2024-02-08** Third reading, passed; yeas, 96; nays, 1; absent, 0; excused, 1. `reading-3`
- **2024-02-12** First reading, referred to State Government & Elections. `reading-1`
- **2024-02-15** Public hearing in the Senate Committee on State Government & Elections at 6:00 PM.
- **2024-02-20** Executive action taken in the Senate Committee on State Government & Elections at 1:30 PM.
- **2024-02-20** SGE - Majority; do pass. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2024-02-21** Passed to Rules Committee for second reading.
- **2024-02-23** Placed on second reading consent calendar. `reading-2`
- **2024-02-28** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading. `reading-3`
- **2024-02-28** Third reading, passed; yeas, 49; nays, 0; absent, 0; excused, 0. `reading-3`
- **2024-02-29** Speaker signed. `passage`
- **2024-02-29** President signed. `passage`
- **2024-03-01** Delivered to Governor. `executive-receipt`
- **2024-03-13** Governor signed. `executive-signature`
- **2024-03-13** Chapter 70, 2024 Laws. `became-law`
- **2024-03-13** Effective date 6/6/2024. `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/abf4ee43-a5ae-414c-a24a-a69064b2c127`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Washington legislature records).