---
type: "Bill"
title: "Concerning the definition of a \"qualifying discharge\" for the Washington state veterans' preference program for civil service."
description: "Concerning the definition of a \"qualifying discharge\" for the Washington state veterans' preference program for civil service."
jurisdiction: "us/states/wa"
legislature: "Washington Legislature"
session: "2025-2026"
identifier: "SB 5827"
citation: "Washington SB 5827 (2025-2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Gildon"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 33
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2025-12-04"
last_action: "2026-03-23"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/c315da28-f17a-465b-ae73-39f757bd7cd7"
source_url: "https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary/?BillNumber=5827&Year=2025&Initiative=false"
source_hash: "d7a092c302d32c3445eeb715fb69d24acf732eaffb44cc1ba9c38923fbfb612f"
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 5827 (2025-2026) — Concerning the definition of a "qualifying discharge" for the Washington state veterans' preference program for civil service.

## 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/Senate%20Bills/5827.htm)
2. **Substitute Bill** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2025-26/Htm/Bills/Senate%20Bills/5827-S.htm)
3. **Substitute Passed Legislature** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2025-26/Htm/Bills/Senate%20Passed%20Legislature/5827-S.PL.htm)

## Votes

- 3rd Reading & Final Passage (#15) — **96–0** (pass) · lower
- 3rd Reading & Final Passage (#24) — **48–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Gildon — primary (person)
- Christian — cosponsor (person)
- Dozier — cosponsor (person)
- J. Wilson — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2025-12-04** Prefiled for introduction. `filing`
- **2026-01-12** First reading, referred to State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections. `reading-1`
- **2026-01-16** Public hearing in the Senate Committee on State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections at 10:30 AM.
- **2026-01-23** Executive action taken in the Senate Committee on State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections at 10:30 AM.
- **2026-01-23** SGTE - Majority; 1st substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `substitution`
- **2026-01-23** And refer to Ways & Means. `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-26** Referred to Ways & Means. `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-02** Public hearing in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means at 4:00 PM.
- **2026-02-09** Executive action taken in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means at 10:30 AM.
- **2026-02-09** WM - Majority; do pass 1st substitute bill proposed by State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-02-09** Passed to Rules Committee for second reading.
- **2026-02-10** Placed on second reading by Rules Committee. `reading-2`
- **2026-02-13** 1st substitute bill substituted (SGTE 26). `substitution`
- **2026-02-13** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading. `reading-3`
- **2026-02-13** Third reading, passed; yeas, 48; nays, 0; absent, 0; excused, 1. `reading-3`
- **2026-02-17** First reading, referred to State Government & Tribal Relations. `reading-1`
- **2026-02-24** Public hearing in the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations at 1:30 PM.
- **2026-02-25** Executive action taken in the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations at 1:30 PM.
- **2026-02-25** SGOV - Majority; do pass. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-02-25** Referred to Appropriations. `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-27** Public hearing in the House Committee on Appropriations at 10:30 AM.
- **2026-03-02** Executive action taken in the House Committee on Appropriations at 10:30 AM.
- **2026-03-02** APP - Majority; do pass. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-03-02** Referred to Rules 2 Review. `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-05** Rules Committee relieved of further consideration. Placed on second reading. `reading-2`
- **2026-03-06** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading. `reading-3`
- **2026-03-06** Third reading, passed; yeas, 96; nays, 0; absent, 0; excused, 2. `reading-3`
- **2026-03-09** President signed. `passage`
- **2026-03-11** Speaker signed. `passage`
- **2026-03-12** Delivered to Governor. `executive-receipt`
- **2026-03-23** Governor signed. `executive-signature`
- **2026-03-23** Chapter 146, 2026 Laws. `became-law`
- **2026-03-23** 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/c315da28-f17a-465b-ae73-39f757bd7cd7`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Washington legislature records).