Washington 2025-2026 Regular Session Status: Passed Senate Bipartisan · 7 D · 1 R cosponsors

SB 5379 — Granting interest arbitration to certain parks and recreation commission employees.

Last action — Executive session scheduled, but no action was taken in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means at 10:30 AM.

  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. ✓
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed Senate
  4. 4
    Passed House
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has passed the Senate. Introduced January 20, 2025. It now moves to the second chamber.

Next likely step: consideration and a floor vote in the House.

Odds of enactment

Moderate chance

Based on the sponsor, cosponsors, and committee posture, this bill has a moderate chance of becoming law.

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A statistical estimate from our own model of past outcomes — an insight, not a guarantee. Policymaking is volatile.

Prognosis

Advancing 54% · moderate confidence

  • Passed Senate

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 8 sponsors

    1 primary, 7 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Bipartisan support

    Sponsored across 2 parties (7 D · 1 R) — cross-party backing.

Based on stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes, and cross-state momentum — a description of the observable signals, not a prediction.

Bill Text

What changed in the latest version

41 added · 43 removed

Plain-language change summary

The recent changes to Bill SB 5379 mainly involve clarifying the right to interest arbitration for employees at the Department of Corrections and the Parks and Recreation Commission. The revision specifies that this applies to workers under a specific chapter of the law and removes references to certain types of employees, likely making the language more precise. This matters because it aims to ensure that key employees who provide essential services have a fair process to resolve disputes, which could lead to better working conditions and uninterrupted services for the public.

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S-4268.1 SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5379 State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session By Senate Labor & Commerce (originally sponsored by Senators Stanford, MacEwen, Bateman, Frame, Hasegawa, Nobles, Orwall, and Shewmake) READ FIRST TIME 02/04/26.
S-0083.1 SENATE BILL 5379 State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session By Senators Stanford, MacEwen, Bateman, Frame, Hasegawa, Nobles, Orwall, and Shewmake Read first time 01/20/25.
Referred to Committee on Labor & Commerce.
and reenacting and amending RCW 41.80.200.
and amending RCW 41.80.200.
RCW 41.80.200 and 2025 c 387 s 4 and 2025 c 162 s 1 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
RCW 41.80.200 and 2020 c 89 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
(2) This section applies only to employees covered by chapter 41.06 RCW working for the department of corrections or the parks and recreation commission, except confidential employees as defined in RCW 41.80.005 and internal auditors.
(2) This section applies only to employees covered by chapter 41.06 RCW working for the department of corrections or the parks and recreation commission, except confidential employees as defined in RCW 41.80.005((, members of the Washington management service,)) and internal auditors.
1 SSB 5379 (3) Negotiations between the employer and the exclusive bargaining representative of a unit of employees shall be commenced at least five months before submission of the budget to the legislature.
1 SB 5379 (3) Negotiations between the employer and the exclusive bargaining representative of a unit of employees shall be commenced at least five months before submission of the budget to the legislature.
The parties will select an arbitrator by mutual agreement, by alternatively striking names from a regional list of seven qualified arbitrators provided by the federal mediation and conciliation service, or, with the consent of the parties, the American arbitration association.
The parties will select an arbitrator by mutual agreement or by alternatively striking names from a regional list of seven qualified arbitrators provided by the federal mediation and conciliation service.
2 SSB 5379 schedule of at least five negotiation dates, absent an agreement to the contrary.
2 SB 5379 schedule of at least five negotiation dates, absent an agreement to the contrary.
3 SSB 5379 conditions of employment of like personnel of like state government employers of similar size in the western United States;
3 SB 5379 conditions of employment of like personnel of like state government employers of similar size in the western United States;
4 SSB 5379 (9) Subject to the provisions of this section, the parties shall follow the commission's procedures for interest arbitration.
4 SB 5379 (9) Subject to the provisions of this section, the parties shall follow the commission's procedures for interest arbitration.
5 SSB 5379
5 SB 5379
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Action History

  1. Executive session scheduled, but no action was taken in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means at 10:30 AM.

  2. Public hearing in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means at 1:30 PM.

  3. Referred to Ways & Means.

  4. Minority; without recommendation.

  5. Minority; do not pass.

  6. And refer to Ways & Means.

  7. LC - Majority; 1st substitute bill be substituted, do pass.

  8. Executive action taken in the Senate Committee on Labor & Commerce at 10:30 AM.

  9. Public hearing in the Senate Committee on Labor & Commerce at 10:30 AM.

  10. By resolution, reintroduced and retained in present status.

  11. First reading, referred to Labor & Commerce.

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 7 co-sponsors · 143 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (7)

Not signed on (143)

143 members have not signed on to this bill.

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"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

labor
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

Who sponsors SB 5379?
SB 5379 is sponsored by Sharon Shewmake (Democrat), Tina Orwall (Democrat), T'wina Nobles (Democrat), Bob Hasegawa (Democrat), Noel Frame (Democrat), Jessica Bateman (Democrat), Drew MacEwen (Republican), and Derek Stanford (Democrat).
What is the current status of SB 5379?
This bill has passed the Senate. Introduced January 20, 2025. It now moves to the second chamber.
Where can I track SB 5379?
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Last checked for changes 3 months ago · updated continuously

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