---
type: "Bill"
title: "Concerning letters of recommendation or congratulations sent by legislators."
description: "Concerning letters of recommendation or congratulations sent by legislators."
jurisdiction: "us/states/wa"
legislature: "Washington Legislature"
session: "2023-2024"
identifier: "SB 5381"
citation: "Washington SB 5381 (2023-2024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Braun"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 24
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2023-01-16"
last_action: "2023-05-01"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/2b214a07-c359-4db9-bf97-a76ce80adac9"
source_url: "http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=5381&year=2023"
source_hash: "4f8566dc5428625df6e980c77fe1d73d73de2eaa0d107969d98f3f475f0fddcd"
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 5381 (2023-2024) — Concerning letters of recommendation or congratulations sent by legislators.

## 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/Senate%20Bills/5381.htm)
2. **Substitute Bill** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2023-24/Htm/Bills/Senate%20Bills/5381-S.htm)
3. **Substitute Passed Legislature** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2023-24/Htm/Bills/Senate%20Passed%20Legislature/5381-S.PL.htm)

## Votes

- 3rd Reading & Final Passage (#24) — **98–0** (pass) · lower
- 3rd Reading & Final Passage (#5) — **49–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Braun — primary (person)
- Boehnke — cosponsor (person)
- C. Wilson — cosponsor (person)
- Conway — cosponsor (person)
- Dhingra — cosponsor (person)
- Hunt — cosponsor (person)
- J. Wilson — cosponsor (person)
- Keiser — cosponsor (person)
- King — cosponsor (person)
- Kuderer — cosponsor (person)
- Nguyen — cosponsor (person)
- Pedersen — cosponsor (person)
- Randall — cosponsor (person)
- Saldaña — cosponsor (person)
- Warnick — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-01-16** First reading, referred to State Government & Elections. `reading-1`
- **2023-01-27** Public hearing in the Senate Committee on State Government & Elections at 8:00 AM.
- **2023-02-03** Executive action taken in the Senate Committee on State Government & Elections at 8:00 AM.
- **2023-02-03** SGE - Majority; 1st substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `substitution`
- **2023-02-07** Passed to Rules Committee for second reading.
- **2023-02-08** Placed on second reading consent calendar. `reading-2`
- **2023-02-15** 1st substitute bill substituted (SGE 23). `substitution`
- **2023-02-15** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading. `reading-3`
- **2023-02-15** Third reading, passed; yeas, 49; nays, 0; absent, 0; excused, 0. `reading-3`
- **2023-02-17** First reading, referred to State Government & Tribal Relations. `reading-1`
- **2023-03-14** Public hearing in the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations at 1:30 PM.
- **2023-03-21** Executive session scheduled, but no action was taken in the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations at 1:30 PM.
- **2023-03-22** Executive action taken in the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations at 1:30 PM.
- **2023-03-22** SGOV - Majority; do pass. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-03-24** Referred to Rules 2 Review. `referral-committee`
- **2023-04-03** Placed on second reading by Rules Committee. `reading-2`
- **2023-04-10** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading. `reading-3`
- **2023-04-10** Third reading, passed; yeas, 98; nays, 0; absent, 0; excused, 0. `reading-3`
- **2023-04-12** President signed. `passage`
- **2023-04-14** Speaker signed. `passage`
- **2023-04-18** Delivered to Governor. `executive-receipt`
- **2023-05-01** Governor signed. `executive-signature`
- **2023-05-01** Chapter 226, 2023 Laws. `became-law`
- **2023-05-01** Effective date 7/23/2023. `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/2b214a07-c359-4db9-bf97-a76ce80adac9`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Washington legislature records).