Skip to main content
Home  / Home  / About the Legislature  / Legislative procedures  / Joint rules

Joint rules

The House and Senate both vote to adopt joint rules that govern processes that affect both chambers.

Preface

In 2023, the Senate and House adopted the Legislature's current joint rules with the adoption of House Concurrent Resolution 4401. The joint rules were subsequently amended with the adoption of Senate Concurrent Resolution 8407.

 

Rule 13. Bills, How Drawn

Bills introduced in either house intended to amend existing statutes shall have the words that are amendatory to such existing statutes underlined. Any matter to be deleted from the existing statutes shall be indicated by lining out such matter with a broken line and enclosing the lined out material within double parentheses, and no bill shall be printed or acted upon until the provisions of this rule shall have been complied with.
New sections need not be underlined but shall be designated "NEW SECTION." in upper case type and such designation shall be underlined.
Sections of a bill that repeal a prior enactment shall include the section caption accompanying the section in the Revised Code of Washington.
No bill shall be introduced by title only, and, in the event a bill is not complete, at least section 1 shall be set forth in full before the bill may be accepted for introduction.
Amendments to bills will be acted upon in the manner provided in the Rules of the Senate and in the Rules of the House of Representatives. No amendment to a bill shall be considered which strikes the entire subject matter of a bill, and substitutes in lieu thereof entirely new subject matter not germane to the original or engrossed bill.

An unhandled error has occurred. Reload 🗙