SB 5543 Washington Senate · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Providing equity in eligibility for the college bound scholarship.

Senate Bill 5543 aims to provide equity in eligibility for the College Bound Scholarship program in Washington state. The bill standardizes how eligible students can meet the high school graduation requirement by confirming that receiving a high school equivalency certificate is a valid pathway for all scholarship recipients. It removes a previous specific provision that separately allowed certain dependent or adopted students to use this certificate, thereby streamlining the requirements. This

Issues: ✓ Education

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Apr 2025

Senate Passage

Apr 2025

House Passage

Apr 2025

Signed into Law

May 2025

Introduced Jan 28, 2025 Signed May 15, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Bill → Passed Legislature · 3 edits

MINOR

The document was updated from a draft bill text to the final enrolled version passed by the legislature. This change adds official certification signatures, vote counts, and filing dates, confirming the bill has been approved by both the Senate and House of Representatives.

ENFORCEMENT

Added official certification text confirming the bill was passed by the Senate (49-0) and House (89-5) on specific dates in March and April 2025.

TECHNICAL

Inserted the title 'CERTIFICATION OF ENROLLMENT' and signatures for the Secretary of the Senate and Secretary of State to validate the final version of the bill.

Removed the draft bill number 'Z-0311.1' which was used for internal tracking before final passage.

Floor votes · Senate Mar 7, 2025 · House Apr 10, 2025

How they voted

51–0

Passed

Total votes 51

Mar 7, 2025

D Democratic31

31 Yea

100% Yea

R Republican20

20 Yea

100% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

May 15, 2025

Signed into law

Governor signed.

executive

Apr 18, 2025

Lower · Passed

Speaker signed.

lower

Apr 16, 2025

Upper · Passed

President signed.

upper

Apr 10, 2025

House · Passed

House Vote: pass (90-6-4)

house

Apr 8, 2025

Committee

Referred to Rules 2 Review.

lower

Apr 5, 2025

Lower · Passed

Minority; without recommendation.

lower

Apr 5, 2025

Lower · Passed

Minority; do not pass.

lower

Apr 5, 2025

Lower · Passed

APP - Majority; do pass.

lower

Apr 5, 2025

Lower · Passed

Executive action taken in the House Committee on Appropriations at 9:00 AM.

lower

Apr 4, 2025

Lower · Passed

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

lower

Mar 28, 2025

Committee

Referred to Appropriations.

lower

Mar 26, 2025

Lower · Passed

Minority; without recommendation.

lower

Mar 26, 2025

Lower · Passed

Minority; do not pass.

lower

Mar 26, 2025

Lower · Passed

PEW - Majority; do pass.

lower

Mar 26, 2025

Lower · Passed

Executive action taken in the House Committee on Postsecondary Education & Workforce at 1:30 PM.

lower

Mar 18, 2025

Lower · Passed

Public hearing in the House Committee on Postsecondary Education & Workforce at 1:30 PM.

lower

Mar 7, 2025

Senate · Passed

Senate Vote: pass (51-0)

senate

Feb 28, 2025

Upper · Passed

WM - Majority; do pass.

upper

Feb 28, 2025

Upper · Passed

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

upper

Feb 17, 2025

Upper · Passed

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

upper

Feb 11, 2025

Committee

Referred to Ways & Means.

upper

Feb 10, 2025

Committee

And refer to Ways & Means.

upper

Feb 10, 2025

Upper · Passed

HEWD - Majority; do pass.

upper

Feb 10, 2025

Upper · Passed

Executive action taken in the Senate Committee on Higher Education & Workforce Development at 10:30 AM.

upper

Feb 6, 2025

Upper · Passed

Public hearing in the Senate Committee on Higher Education & Workforce Development at 1:30 PM.

upper

1 primary · 6 co-sponsors