How Washington House Bill 1307 might become law

By Josie Bode
J-Ideas

(The following is a description of the life cycle of Washington House Bill 1307 as it moves through Washington state legislative bodies.)

Step One:  State Representative Dave Upthegrove (D-Des Moines) introduces HB 1307. This step is also called a “First Reading.”  HB 1307 is assigned to the Judiciary Committee, which held public hearings on Friday, Jan. 26. The Judiciary Committee can pass HB 1307, reject it, or take no action on the bill.
(If Passed)

Step Two: The Judiciary Committee report on HB 1307 is read in open session of the House of Representatives and then HB 1307 is referred to the Rules Committee.

Step Three: The Rules Committee is where the House leadership exercises the most control over the legislative agenda.  Each member of the bi-partisan committee can select two or three bills that will move on to the next step in the process.  There are a variety of reasons why a bill succeeds or fails at this level, but often a bill’s fate depends on the priority to which it is assigned by specific committee members, and the agenda of the majority party in the legislative body.  Both houses of the Washington legislature are controlled by Democrats.

The first step in the House Rules Committee process is “Rules Review,” where committee members review the bill to determine if it can move to the next step. If so, HB 1307 would move to “Rules Consideration,” where if selected, the HB 1307 would be scheduled for a “second reading.”

Step Four: It is on the “second reading” that the House chamber will debate the merit of HB 1307 for the first time.  It is at this point that House members can offer amendments to the bill. It will then be scheduled for the “third reading.” If amended in the House, the bill will be “engrossed,” or edited, so the Senate views the new form of the bill.

Step Five: If HB 1307 makes it to the “third reading” in the House, a roll-call vote on final passage will be taken.  If it passes, the bill continues on to the Senate.  If it fails, the bill dies.

Step Six: If HB 1307 passes “third reading,” it is introduced in the Senate, where the process begins again, starting with a Committee assignment, the Rules Committee, and Second Reading. 

If the Senate makes amendments in the “second reading” of HB 1307, it is sent back to the House for approval of those amendments.  If all is well, it will proceed on to the Third Reading in the Senate -- roll-call vote -- and on to the office of Gov. Christine Gregoire.

In some cases, the House does not accept the amendments made by the Senate.  If that occurs the House may request that the senate repeal the amendments.  If they refuse the two bodies hold a “Conference Committee,” to debate the issues and reach a possible consensus.  The committee will release a report and both houses must vote to “adopt” the report in order for the bill to “pass the legislature.”