republic-os/legislation/us/states/wa/2019-2020/sb-5481.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Establishing a coalition of commissioned officers, detectives, and sergeants of the department of fish and wildlife for the purposes of collective bargaining, including interest arbitration."
description: "Establishing a coalition of commissioned officers, detectives, and sergeants of the department of fish and wildlife for the purposes of collective bargaining, including interest arbitration."
jurisdiction: "us/states/wa"
legislature: "Washington Legislature"
session: "2019-2020"
identifier: "SB 5481"
citation: "Washington SB 5481 (2019-2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["FISH AND WILDLIFE", "DEPARTMENT", "COLLECTIVE BARGAINING", "LAW ENFORCEMENT AND LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Warnick"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 52
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2019-01-22"
last_action: "2020-04-02"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/fcef8986-4d72-4fb2-96b6-63f158b666dd"
source_url: "http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=5481&year=2019"
source_hash: "2f6f6112176733bb3deac50f732d08153697012d672adfddf9fdde3aa1e8eec8"
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 5481 (2019-2020) — Establishing a coalition of commissioned officers, detectives, and sergeants of the department of fish and wildlife for the purposes of collective bargaining, including interest arbitration.

## 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/2019-20/Htm/Bills/Senate%20Bills/5481.htm)
2. **Engrossed Second Substitute Bill** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2019-20/Htm/Bills/Senate%20Bills/5481-S2.E.htm)
3. **Second Substitute Bill** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2019-20/Htm/Bills/Senate%20Bills/5481-S2.htm)
4. **Substitute Bill** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2019-20/Htm/Bills/Senate%20Bills/5481-S.htm)

## Votes

- 3rd Reading & Final Passage (#13) — **48–0** (pass) · upper
- 3rd Reading & Final Passage (#20) — **87–10** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Warnick — primary (person)
- Fortunato — cosponsor (person)
- Holy — cosponsor (person)
- Honeyford — cosponsor (person)
- Sheldon — cosponsor (person)
- Short — cosponsor (person)
- Van De Wege — cosponsor (person)
- Wagoner — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-01-22** First reading, referred to Labor & Commerce. `reading-1`
- **2020-01-13** By resolution, reintroduced and retained in present status.
- **2020-01-16** LBRC - Majority; 1st substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `passage`
- **2020-01-16** And refer to Ways & Means. `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-16** Minority; without recommendation.
- **2020-01-17** Referred to Ways & Means.
- **2020-02-11** WM - Majority; 2nd substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `passage`
- **2020-02-11** Minority; without recommendation.
- **2020-02-11** Passed to Rules Committee for second reading.
- **2020-02-13** Placed on second reading by Rules Committee.
- **2020-02-17** 2nd substitute bill substituted. `substitution`
- **2020-01-16** LBRC - Majority; 1st substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `passage`
- **2020-01-16** And refer to Ways & Means. `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-16** Minority; without recommendation.
- **2020-01-17** Referred to Ways & Means.
- **2020-02-11** WM - Majority; 2nd substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `passage`
- **2020-02-11** Minority; without recommendation.
- **2020-02-11** Passed to Rules Committee for second reading.
- **2020-02-13** Placed on second reading by Rules Committee.
- **2020-02-17** 2nd substitute bill substituted. `substitution`
- **2020-02-11** WM - Majority; 2nd substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `passage`
- **2020-02-11** Minority; without recommendation.
- **2020-02-11** Passed to Rules Committee for second reading.
- **2020-02-13** Placed on second reading by Rules Committee.
- **2020-02-17** 2nd substitute bill substituted. `substitution`
- **2020-02-17** Floor amendment(s) adopted.
- **2020-02-17** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading.
- **2020-02-17** Third reading, passed; yeas, 48; nays, 0; absent, 0; excused, 1. `reading-3`
- **2020-02-20** First reading, referred to Labor & Workplace Standards. `reading-1`
- **2020-02-25** LAWS - Majority; do pass.
- **2020-02-25** Minority; do not pass.
- **2020-02-27** Referred to Appropriations.
- **2020-02-29** APP - Majority; do pass.
- **2020-02-29** Minority; do not pass.
- **2020-03-03** Referred to Rules 2 Review.
- **2020-03-04** Rules Committee relieved of further consideration. Placed on second reading.
- **2020-03-05** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading.
- **2020-03-05** Third reading, passed; yeas, 87; nays, 10; absent, 0; excused, 1. `reading-3`
- **2020-03-09** President signed. `passage`
- **2020-03-10** Speaker signed. `passage`
- **2020-03-11** Delivered to Governor.
- **2020-04-02** Governor signed. `executive-signature`
- **2020-04-02** Chapter 298, 2020 Laws. `became-law`
- **2020-04-02** Effective date 6/11/2020. `became-law`
- **2020-01-14T13:30:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on Labor & Commerce at 08:30 AM
- **2020-01-16T13:00:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on Labor & Commerce at 08:00 AM
- **2020-01-27T20:30:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means at 03:30 PM
- **2020-02-11T15:00:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means at 10:00 AM
- **2020-02-24T18:30:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the House Committee on Labor & Workplace Standards at 01:30 PM
- **2020-02-25T20:30:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the House Committee on Labor & Workplace Standards at 03:30 PM
- **2020-02-29T14:00:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the House Committee on Appropriations at 09:00 AM
- **2020-02-29T14:00:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the House Committee on Appropriations at 09:00 AM

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/fcef8986-4d72-4fb2-96b6-63f158b666dd`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Washington legislature records).