We advocate for positive changes that improve Washington State’s response to domestic violence and sexual assault and increase survivors’ options for safety and independence. We do this through tracking bills, lobbying in Olympia, and informing and mobilizing our membership to take action on important policy and budget issues.
There are lots of ways to get involved and make a difference for survivors in your community!
2026 Legislative Session
The 2026 Washington State legislative session runs from January 12 to March 12, 2026.
Our top priority this year is securing stable funding for crime victim services.
Victim service providers across Washington are facing a funding crisis driven by steep declines in federal support. Many programs are at risk of closing or significantly reducing services, creating serious barriers for survivors seeking safety and support.
Currently, the state budget includes only about half of what is needed to sustain victim services at a basic level. WSCADV is asking the legislature to invest $21.38 million and to work with us to establish a stable, long-term funding solution (SB 5256 / HB 2289).
Year-to-year budget uncertainty is not a sustainable way to fund essential safety-net services, and survivors should not bear the cost of that instability.
In addition to funding, we closely track and engage on legislation affecting survivor safety and healing, including housing stability, access to medical care, immigration protections, crime victims’ rights, system accountability, language access, privacy, and other critical supports.
The bills we support this session are listed below.
For questions about WSCADV’s 2026 legislative advocacy, please contact Roshelle at roshelle@wscadv.org.
Interested in last session? Check out our 2025 State Legislative Session Report.
2026 Priority Bills
Crime victims & witnesses: SB 6017 (Stearns)
Companion Bill: HB 2493 (Orwall)
- In collaboration with the Attorney General’s Sexual Assault Forensic Examination Committee the bill includes expanding the definition of sexual violence to include female genital mutilation;
- Adds pro se defendant restrictions around questioning the victim in criminal cases;
- Allows survivors 13 years and older to consent for domestic violence assault forensic examinations involving nonfatal strangulation.
Concerning immigrant worker protections: SB 5852 (Saldaña)
Companion Bill: HB 2105 (Ortiz-Self)
- Requires an employer to notify its workers and certain former workers within 72 hours of receiving a federal Notice of Inspection of its Employment Eligibility Verification Forms I-9 (Forms I-9);
- Requires an employer to notify affected workers within 72 hours of receiving the results of any inspection of its Forms I-9;
- Prohibits employers from voluntarily consenting to federal agencies to access, review, or obtain the employer’s worker records without a subpoena or judicial warrant, except for inspections of Forms I-9 or when required by federal law. Allows the Attorney General to bring a civil action to enjoin violations and obtain minimum penalties, and allows injured workers and other persons to bring a private civil action to enjoin violations and obtain actual damages or statutory damages.
Ban law enforcement officer masking: HB 2173 (Cortes)
Companion Bill: SB 5855 (Valdez)
- Would ban state and federal law enforcement officers from wearing face-concealing masks in routine public interactions, ensuring greater accountability.
Supporting the recovery of missing persons: SB 6070 (Dhingra)
- In partnership with the Missing Murdered and Indigenous People’s Taskforce this bill creates a new missing person alert designation and expands the definition of missing endangered person to black persons, people with disabilities (creating the Purple Alert), and suicidal.
- It also modifies processes for pen registers, trap and trace devices, and cell site simulator devices and allows law enforcement agencies to use such tools to aid in locating a missing endangered person.
Modifying requirements and allowed uses for certain funding related to providing and maintaining affordable housing and related services: SB 6027 (Alvarado)
Companion Bill: HB 2359 (Peterson)
- Makes changes to the allowable uses for certain local sales and use tax collected for housing and related services.
- Makes changes to the requirements and eligible uses of funding in the Affordable Housing for All Account.
- Allows the qualifying entity to certify that they intend to operate existing housing for low income persons on property sold or transferred within 24 months, instead of one year, for the purposes of qualifying for a Real Estate Excise Tax exemption.
- Updates the definition of emergency housing for the purpose of property tax exemptions for nonprofit organizations in providing emergency or transitional housing for low-income persons or victims of domestic violence who are homeless.
Improving access to abortion medications: HB 2182 (Thomas)
Companion Bill: SB 5917 (Bateman)
- Requested by the Women’s Commission this bill would remove the requirement that the Department of Corrections (DOC) sell the abortion medications it possesses at a certain cost but instead allows, but does not require, DOC to obtain payment for any abortion medications it distributes.
- Modifies the definition of abortion medications for these purposes to specifically include misoprostol.
Providing remedies for defendant survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, or human trafficking: HB 1591 (Taylor)
- This bill would establish a sentencing alternative for defendants who are survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, or human trafficking, and authorizes the court to impose the sentencing alternative or a sentence below the standard range in applicable cases.
- Authorizes the court to resentence persons who are survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, or human trafficking, under certain circumstances.
- Authorizes the court to vacate records of conviction for persons who are survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, or human trafficking, under certain circumstances.
Previous Legislative Sessions
2025 Legislative Session
The 2025 Washington State legislative session began on January 13, 2025 and ended on April 27, 2025. We’re proud to share the impact of our collective advocacy. This year, we tracked more than 175 bills that could affect survivors’ safety, housing, economic stability, legal access, and more.
Securing stable funding for crime victim services was our number one priority this year. The need for reliable and sustained funding has never been more urgent. In recent years, victim service providers across Washington have faced growing challenges due to a significant decline in federal funding, leaving many programs at risk of closing or drastically reducing services. Without a consistent funding stream, survivors of domestic violence face overwhelming barriers to accessing the support they need.
Thanks to a strong, collaborative effort, the legislature approved $20 million in state funding to sustain these vital services for the coming year.
We are deeply grateful to our member programs, victim services providers, survivors, and allies who spoke out, took action, and showed up in countless ways throughout the session. Your advocacy made this victory possible.
Learn more about the bills we tracked, what passed, and what it means for survivors and advocates across Washington: WSCADV Report on the 2025 State Legislative Session.
Wondering how laws are made in Washington State? Watch our short video, Ms. RCW.