Washington 2025-2026 Regular Session Status: Passed Senate 11 D cosponsors

SB 5179 — Establishing a complaint process to address noncompliance with certain state education laws.

Last action — Senate Rules "X" file.

  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 08, 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.

Upgrade to see the exact probability and what's driving it.

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

Prognosis

Advancing 58% · moderate confidence

  • Passed Senate

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 11 sponsors

    1 primary, 10 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Single-party support

    Sponsorship is currently within one party (11 D).

  • Cleared a recorded vote

    Passed 1 recorded vote so far.

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

22 added · 22 removed

Plain-language change summary

In the latest version of Senate Bill 5179, the language around filing complaints regarding school issues has been slightly changed. The phrase "the person who intends to file the complaint" has been simplified to "a person must provide notice," making it clearer and more concise. This adjustment matters because it streamlines the complaint process, making it easier for individuals to understand their responsibilities when addressing concerns within the school system.

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Latest
S-1186.1 SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5179 State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session By Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education (originally sponsored by Senators C.
S-0315.2 SENATE BILL 5179 State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session By Senators C.
Wilson, Lovelett, Cortes, Dhingra, Frame, Hasegawa, Liias, Lovick, Nobles, Trudeau, and Wellman) READ FIRST TIME 02/07/25.
Wilson, Lovelett, Cortes, Dhingra, Frame, Hasegawa, Liias, Lovick, Nobles, Trudeau, and Wellman Prefiled 01/08/25.
Read first time 01/13/25.
Referred to Committee on Early Learning & K-12 Education.
1 SSB 5179 and that this noncompliance is negatively impacting students.
1 SB 5179 and that this noncompliance is negatively impacting students.
2 SSB 5179 (d) The use of restraint or isolation on a student as described in RCW 28A.600.485;
2 SB 5179 (d) The use of restraint or isolation on a student as described in RCW 28A.600.485;
If there are not existing complaint procedures, the person who intends to file the complaint must provide notice of the complaint to the school district superintendent before filing the complaint with the office of the superintendent of public instruction.
If there are not existing complaint procedures, a person must provide notice of the complaint to the school district superintendent before filing the complaint with the office of the superintendent of public instruction.
3 SSB 5179 (4)(a) The office of the superintendent of public instruction must adopt rules that ensure due process regarding the complaint process, timelines, compliance action plans, and consequences established under this section and sections 4 and 5 of this act.
3 SB 5179 (4)(a) The office of the superintendent of public instruction must adopt rules that ensure due process regarding the complaint process, timelines, compliance action plans, and consequences established under this section and sections 4 and 5 of this act.
4 SSB 5179 (d) Before adopting and submitting a compliance action plan to the office of the superintendent of public instruction, the school district board of directors must conduct a public hearing to allow for public comment on the proposed compliance action plan.
4 SB 5179 (d) Before adopting and submitting a compliance action plan to the office of the superintendent of public instruction, the school district board of directors must conduct a public hearing to allow for public comment on the proposed compliance action plan.
5 SSB 5179 (a) Require the school district to adopt or readopt policies and procedures to come into compliance with state law;
5 SB 5179 (a) Require the school district to adopt or readopt policies and procedures to come into compliance with state law;
6 SSB 5179 access point for the receipt of complaints involving the elementary and secondary education system.
6 SB 5179 access point for the receipt of complaints involving the elementary and secondary education system.
(ii) Link to all existing relevant complaint and investigative processes, such as the special education community complaint process, the discrimination complaint process, the process for reporting complaints related to harassment, intimidation, and bullying, the complaint process established under section 3 of this act, and the complaint and investigation provisions under RCW 28A.410.090 and 28A.410.095;
(ii) Link to all existing relevant complaint and investigative processes, such as the special education community complaint process, the discrimination complaint process, the process for reporting complaints related to harassment, intimidation, and bullying, the complaint procedures established under section 3 of this act, and the complaint and investigation provisions under RCW 28A.410.090 and 28A.410.095;
7 SSB 5179 28A.150.010, the state school for the blind, and the center for deaf and hard of hearing youth.
7 SB 5179 28A.150.010, the state school for the blind, and the center for deaf and hard of hearing youth.
and (c) The complaint process established under section 3 of this act.
and (c) The complaint procedures established under section 3 of this act.
8 SSB 5179 (1) The professional educator standards board must adopt rules that make a school district superintendent's willful noncompliance with state law an act of unprofessional conduct and provide that a superintendent, whether certificated or not, may be held accountable for such conduct under rules established under this section.
8 SB 5179 (1) The professional educator standards board must adopt rules that make a school district superintendent's willful noncompliance with state law an act of unprofessional conduct and provide that a superintendent, whether certificated or not, may be held accountable for such conduct under rules established under this section.
9 SSB 5179 (b)(i) The commission shall acknowledge the receipt of each received complaint within 10 business days and shall, in a timely manner, perform any inquiries or other actions it deems necessary and appropriate to respond to each received complaint, unless the complaint is alleging noncompliance with state law as defined in section 2 of this act.
9 SB 5179 (b)(i) The commission shall acknowledge the receipt of each received complaint within 10 business days and shall, in a timely manner, perform any inquiries or other actions it deems necessary and appropriate to respond to each received complaint, unless the complaint is alleging noncompliance with state law as defined in section 2 of this act.
10 SSB 5179
10 SB 5179
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Action History

  1. Senate Rules "X" file.

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

  3. By resolution, returned to Senate Rules Committee for third reading.

  4. Public hearing in the House Committee on Education at 1:30 PM.

  5. First reading, referred to Education.

  6. Third reading, passed; yeas, 30; nays, 19; absent, 0; excused, 0.

  7. Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading.

  8. 2nd substitute bill substituted (WM 25).

  9. Placed on second reading by Rules Committee.

  10. Passed to Rules Committee for second reading.

  11. Minority; do not pass.

  12. WM - Majority; 2nd substitute bill be substituted, do pass.

  13. Executive action taken in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means at 1:30 PM.

  14. Public hearing in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means at 4:00 PM.

  15. Referred to Ways & Means.

  16. And refer to Ways & Means.

  17. Minority; without recommendation.

  18. Minority; do not pass.

  19. EDU - Majority; 1st substitute bill be substituted, do pass.

  20. Executive action taken in the Senate Committee on Early Learning & K-12 Education at 10:30 AM.

  21. Public hearing in the Senate Committee on Early Learning & K-12 Education at 8:00 AM.

  22. First reading, referred to Early Learning & K-12 Education.

  23. Prefiled for introduction.

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 10 co-sponsors · 140 not signed on · 19 voted No

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (10)

Not signed on (140)

140 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 140 →

"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

Votes

3rd Reading & Final Passage (#15)

Passed 30 Yea · 19 Nay
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Democrat 30000
Republican 01900
Total 301900
% of votes cast 61%39%0%0%
How each member voted (49)
Member Party Vote
Adrian Cortes Democrat Yea
Annette Cleveland Democrat Yea
Bill Ramos Democrat Yea
Bob Hasegawa Democrat Yea
Claire Wilson Democrat Yea
Claudia Kauffman Democrat Yea
Deborah Krishnadasan Democrat Yea
Derek Stanford Democrat Yea
Drew Hansen Democrat Yea
Emily Alvarado Democrat Yea
Jamie Pedersen Democrat Yea
Javier Valdez Democrat Yea
Jesse Salomon Democrat Yea
Jessica Bateman Democrat Yea
John Lovick Democrat Yea
June Robinson Democrat Yea
Lisa Wellman Democrat Yea
Liz Lovelett Democrat Yea
Manka Dhingra Democrat Yea
Marcus Riccelli Democrat Yea
Marko Liias Democrat Yea
Mike Chapman Democrat Yea
Noel Frame Democrat Yea
Rebecca Saldaña Democrat Yea
Sharon Shewmake Democrat Yea
Steve Conway Democrat Yea
T'wina Nobles Democrat Yea
Tina Orwall Democrat Yea
Vandana Slatter Democrat Yea
Yasmin Trudeau Democrat Yea
Chris Gildon Republican Nay
Curtis King Republican Nay
Drew MacEwen Republican Nay
Jeff Holy Republican Nay
Jeff Wilson Republican Nay
Jim McCune Republican Nay
John Braun Republican Nay
Judy Warnick Republican Nay
Keith Goehner Republican Nay
Keith Wagoner Republican Nay
Leonard Christian Republican Nay
Mark Schoesler Republican Nay
Matt Boehnke Republican Nay
Nikki Torres Republican Nay
Paul Harris Republican Nay
Perry Dozier Republican Nay
Phil Fortunato Republican Nay
Ron Muzzall Republican Nay
Shelly Short Republican Nay

Official roll call →

Subjects

education
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 5179?
SB 5179 is sponsored by Lisa Wellman (Democrat), Yasmin Trudeau (Democrat), T'wina Nobles (Democrat), John Lovick (Democrat), Marko Liias (Democrat), Bob Hasegawa (Democrat), Noel Frame (Democrat), Manka Dhingra (Democrat), Liz Lovelett (Democrat), Claire Wilson (Democrat), and Adrian Cortes (Democrat).
What is the current status of SB 5179?
This bill has passed the Senate. Introduced January 08, 2025. It now moves to the second chamber.
Where can I track SB 5179?
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