---
type: "Bill"
title: "Protecting patient access to discounted medications and health care services through Washington's health care safety net by preventing manufacturer limitations on the 340B drug pricing program."
description: "Protecting patient access to discounted medications and health care services through Washington's health care safety net by preventing manufacturer limitations on the 340B drug pricing program."
jurisdiction: "us/states/wa"
legislature: "Washington Legislature"
session: "2025-2026"
identifier: "SB 5981"
citation: "Washington SB 5981 (2025-2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Cleveland"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 44
vote_count: 9
first_action: "2026-01-05"
last_action: "2026-03-25"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/6e12b23b-e4a4-4826-bbe1-770db5f3292f"
source_url: "https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary/?BillNumber=5981&Year=2025&Initiative=false"
source_hash: "1cfab4bfc0ace84e82b0ffecc3c2ceb4593503a8fd158bd4c7326f89f6ea7989"
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 5981 (2025-2026) — Protecting patient access to discounted medications and health care services through Washington's health care safety net by preventing manufacturer limitations on the 340B drug pricing program.

## 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/5981.htm)
2. **Engrossed Second Substitute Bill** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2025-26/Htm/Bills/Senate%20Bills/5981-S2.E.htm)
3. **Second Substitute Bill** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2025-26/Htm/Bills/Senate%20Bills/5981-S2.htm)
4. **Second Substitute Passed Legislature** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2025-26/Htm/Bills/Senate%20Passed%20Legislature/5981-S2.PL.htm)
5. **Substitute Bill** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2025-26/Htm/Bills/Senate%20Bills/5981-S.htm)

## Votes

- Final Passage as Amended by the House (#24) — **67–30** (pass) · lower
- 2432 Dufault Pg 2 Ln 30 (#19) — **38–58** (fail) · lower
- 2457 Marshall Pg 3 Ln 29 (#23) — **46–50** (fail) · lower
- Final Passage as Amended by the House (#28) — **30–19** (pass) · upper
- 2435 Abell Pg 3 Ln 7 (#20) — **43–53** (fail) · lower
- 2433 Manjarrez Pg 3 Ln 29 (#22) — **39–57** (fail) · lower
- 2434 Engell Pg 2 Ln 26 (#18) — **40–56** (fail) · lower
- 2468 Marshall Pg 3 Ln 7 (#21) — **43–53** (fail) · lower
- 3rd Reading & Final Passage (#21) — **30–18** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Cleveland — primary (person)
- Alvarado — cosponsor (person)
- Bateman — cosponsor (person)
- Chapman — cosponsor (person)
- Dhingra — cosponsor (person)
- Frame — cosponsor (person)
- Harris — cosponsor (person)
- Hasegawa — cosponsor (person)
- Liias — cosponsor (person)
- Pedersen — cosponsor (person)
- Saldaña — cosponsor (person)
- Slatter — cosponsor (person)
- Valdez — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-01-05** Prefiled for introduction. `filing`
- **2026-01-12** First reading, referred to Health & Long-Term Care. `reading-1`
- **2026-01-16** Public hearing in the Senate Committee on Health & Long-Term Care at 8:00 AM.
- **2026-01-27** Executive action taken in the Senate Committee on Health & Long-Term Care at 10:30 AM.
- **2026-01-27** HLTC - Majority; 1st substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `substitution`
- **2026-01-27** And refer to Ways & Means. `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-27** Minority; do not pass. `committee-passage-unfavorable`
- **2026-01-28** Referred to Ways & Means. `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-05** Public hearing in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means at 1:30 PM.
- **2026-02-09** Executive action taken in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means at 10:30 AM.
- **2026-02-09** WM - Majority; 2nd substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `substitution`
- **2026-02-09** Minority; do not pass. `committee-passage-unfavorable`
- **2026-02-09** Minority; without recommendation. `committee-passage-unfavorable`
- **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** 2nd substitute bill substituted (WM 26). `substitution`
- **2026-02-13** Floor amendment(s) adopted.
- **2026-02-13** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading. `reading-3`
- **2026-02-13** Third reading, passed; yeas, 30; nays, 18; absent, 0; excused, 1. `reading-3`
- **2026-02-17** First reading, referred to Health Care & Wellness. `reading-1`
- **2026-02-20** Public hearing in the House Committee on Health Care & Wellness at 8:00 AM.
- **2026-02-25** Executive action taken in the House Committee on Health Care & Wellness at 1:30 PM.
- **2026-02-25** HCW - Majority; do pass with amendment(s). `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-02-25** Minority; do not pass. `committee-passage-unfavorable`
- **2026-02-25** Minority; without recommendation. `committee-passage-unfavorable`
- **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 with amendment(s) by Health Care & Wellness. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-03-02** Minority; do not pass. `committee-passage-unfavorable`
- **2026-03-02** Minority; without recommendation. `committee-passage-unfavorable`
- **2026-03-02** Referred to Rules 2 Review. `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-04** Rules Committee relieved of further consideration. Placed on second reading. `reading-2`
- **2026-03-06** Committee amendment(s) adopted with no other amendments.
- **2026-03-06** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading. `reading-3`
- **2026-03-06** Third reading, passed; yeas, 67; nays, 30; absent, 0; excused, 1. `reading-3`
- **2026-03-09** Senate concurred in House amendments.
- **2026-03-09** Passed final passage; yeas, 30; nays, 19; absent, 0; excused, 0. `passage`
- **2026-03-10** President signed. `passage`
- **2026-03-11** Speaker signed. `passage`
- **2026-03-12** Delivered to Governor. `executive-receipt`
- **2026-03-25** Governor signed. `executive-signature`
- **2026-03-25** Chapter 227, 2026 Laws. `became-law`
- **2026-03-25** 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/6e12b23b-e4a4-4826-bbe1-770db5f3292f`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Washington legislature records).