What Happens After a Washington Bill Is Passed?

After the Washington Legislature passes a bill, it is enrolled, signed by the presiding officers of both chambers, and delivered to the Governor, who then has a constitutionally fixed number of days to sign it, veto it, or let it become law without a signature. Most new laws take effect ninety days after the session’s final adjournment, though emergency clauses and specified effective dates can change that. Here is what happens after a Washington bill is passed, step by step, and when you can expect it to actually be enforceable.

Enrollment and Delivery to the Governor

Final passage is not the last paperwork step. The bill goes through enrollment, which produces the clean official copy incorporating every adopted amendment. The Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate each sign that enrolled bill in open session to certify passage in their chamber, and the signed bill is then formally transmitted to the Governor.¹

Once the bill is in the Governor’s hands, the Legislature’s direct role is over and a constitutional clock starts running.

The Governor’s Deadlines to Act

Article III, Section 12 of the Washington State Constitution gives the Governor three choices: sign the bill, veto it, or do nothing and let it become law. The timeline depends on whether the Legislature is still in session.

While the Legislature Is in Session

If the Governor neither signs nor returns the bill within five days (Sundays excluded) while the Legislature is still sitting, the bill becomes law automatically, as if it had been signed.²

After Adjournment

Bills delivered so late that the Legislature adjourns before the five-day window runs out follow a different rule. The Governor then has twenty days after adjournment (Sundays excluded) to act. If the Governor does nothing during those twenty days, the bill still becomes law. Washington does not have a traditional pocket veto. To block a bill after adjournment, the Governor must actively file it with written objections in the office of the Secretary of State inside that twenty-day window.²

Vetoes and Partial Vetoes

A full veto returns the bill to the chamber where it originated, along with a written message explaining the Governor’s objections. That message is entered into the chamber’s official journal, which opens the door to an override attempt.

Washington’s Governor can also issue a partial veto. If a bill contains multiple sections, the Governor can reject one or more entire sections and sign the rest into law, with written reasons for each objection appended to the bill at signing.²

The Governor cannot strike anything smaller than a full section, with one exception: in appropriation bills, individual spending items within a section can be rejected while the rest of the section stands. The Governor’s line-item power is limited to appropriation items and does not reach individual words or phrases in policy bills.³

Sections and items the Governor approves take effect normally. Vetoed sections and items do not take effect unless the Legislature overrides.

How the Legislature Can Override

An override requires a two-thirds vote of the members present in each chamber, recorded by name in each chamber’s journal. The same threshold applies whether the Governor vetoed the whole bill or specific sections and appropriation items.²

There is no constitutional deadline to act. The Attorney General’s office has concluded that the Legislature can take up a veto override at least as late as the next regular session, and it can also act during a special session if one is called.³

A faster path also exists. Within forty-five days of adjournment (Sundays excluded), two-thirds of the membership of each chamber can petition to reconvene in an extraordinary session lasting up to five days, solely to reconsider vetoed bills.²

When the Law Takes Effect

A signed bill is not enforceable the moment the Governor picks up the pen. Under Article II, Section 41 of the Washington State Constitution, new laws generally take effect ninety days after the Legislature’s final adjournment for that session. Every law passed during the same session shares that default start date, regardless of when the Governor signed.

Three exceptions can shift that timeline:

Emergency clause. If the Legislature includes an emergency clause and passes the bill by a two-thirds vote, the law takes effect immediately upon the Governor’s signature or on a specific date stated in the clause. Budget bills and time-sensitive policy changes routinely use this device.
Specified future date. The Legislature can write a particular effective date into the bill, pushing the start date past the ninety-day default.
Referendum measures. Laws referred to voters at a general election have their own effective date tied to when election results are certified.

Where to Read the Final Text

The Washington State Legislature’s website has a bill-tracking tool where you can search by bill number and see every action taken from introduction through the Governor’s signature. That is the fastest way to confirm whether a bill became law and what its final text looks like.⁴

Once signed, the bill appears in two official publications. First, it is published as a session law, a chronological record of every law passed during that legislative session, browsable by year on the Legislature’s website.⁵

Permanent laws are then folded into the Revised Code of Washington, which organizes all current state statutes by topic rather than by session. If you want to know what the law says on a subject right now, the RCW is the place to look.⁶

1
Washington State Legislature. How a Bill Becomes a Law
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Washington State Legislature. Washington State Constitution
3
Washington Attorney General. VETO – LEGISLATURE – GOVERNOR
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Washington State Legislature. How a Bill Becomes a Law
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Washington State Legislature. Session Laws
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Washington State Legislature. State Laws (RCW)