2025 Washington State Legislation

At CHOICES Media, we know that the state won’t empancipate us — we have to liberate ourselves. The state legislative system is one of many tools in our toolkit that we will use to try to bring people home without endorsing harmful narratives that reproduce the idea that prisons are necessary places, and that some people belong in cages.

In the 2025 legislative session in Washington state, we support laws for abolitionist reforms that change power relations to increase freedoms and make prison abolition seem a little more possible.

Redemption Project WA has put together a helpful explainer on how to track bills during the legislative session at: https://www.redemptionwa.org/news-updates/how-to-track-bills-and-participate-in-the-legislative-process

HB1125

Restores Judicial Discretion

Call to Action

The House Appropriations Committee will hear testimony Saturday, February 22 on HB1125 (Simmons), which would allow judges to reduce peoples’ long sentences if their ongoing incarceration no longer serves the public good. The Judicial Discretion Act (JDA) will reduce racial disparities, reduce the harms of long-term imprisonment, increase public safety, better serve survivors, and use state resources more effectively. 

Since it passed out of the Safety Committee, the Judicial Second Look Board has agreed to modify the bill — significantly reducing the cost in the “fiscal note.”

Click on the link to learn how to sign in “Pro” by 8am on Saturday, February 22, and then tell a friend: https://docs.google.com/document/d/122dyZbINwLGYO2iKUHim_lVQTt2C9ApuSFEbHGxApq8/edit?tab=t.0

The Judicial Discretion Act would allow judges to reduce peoples’ long sentences if their ongoing incarceration no longer serves the public good.

This bill was written by and for people currently incarcerated in Washington state, the Second Look Coalition.

We are proud that Washington’s first formerly incarcerated legislator, Tarra Simmons, is the bill’s lead sponsor.

The Judicial Discretion Act:

Increases public safety: This bill aligns with research showing that long sentences do not reduce recidivism or deter crime.

Promotes racial justice: Severe racial disparities persist in sentencing and in the overall prison population. Nearly 1 in 4 individuals serving very long prison sentences are Black, while Black people make up less than 5 percent of the population. And Washington incarcerates Native people at more than six times the rate of white people.

Invests in Washingtonians: Savings from reduced incarceration will not only cover the cost of this bill, they will also ensure additional services for survivors of crime.

Better serves survivors: Long prison sentences do little to mitigate violence, are not favored by most crime survivors, and do not recognize that “victims” and “offenders” are often the same people. In fact, an Alliance for Safety and Justice survey found that six in ten “victims prefer shorter sentences and more spending on prevention and rehabilitation.”

HB1111 / SB5266 Youth Hope Act “Green Hill bill”

HB1111 / SB5266 would allow youth sentenced in adult court to request an ISRB review of their sentence before they transfer to adult prison

Update: The “Green Hill” bill had a public hearing in the House Safety Committee, but did not get voted out as of February 14.

~ If the bill doesn’t get voted out by February 21, it is dead until next year. ~

The Youth Hope Act is bipartisan legislation co-led by students in Green Hill Capitol Classroom and Echo Glen through the Justice for Girls Coalition.

HB1137

Creates Rules for Using Solitary Confinement

Call to Action: HB1137 is scheduled for a Public Hearing in Appropriations on February 17! Sign in pro here by 3pm: https://app.leg.wa.gov/csi/Testifier/Add?chamber=House&mId=32859&aId=164192&caId=25907&tId=3

HB1137 would create rules to limit the use of solitary confinement, a building block to its eventual abolition.

This bill is supported by the Survivors Opposing Solitary Coalition.

HB1137 is a first step towards an evidence-based elimination of solitary confinement.

Solitary doesn’t make prisons safer. Studies have shown that solitary confinement does little to reduce system-wide prison disorder or disciplinary infractions and have even found that reductions in solitary can lead to reduced prison violence. 

Solitary doesn’t make our communities safer. A Washington study found people who have spent time in solitary are more likely to recidivate once released, especially if released directly from solitary to the community. 

Solitary causes permanent mental and physical harm. Mental health experts have found that solitary causes anxiety, depression and PTSD, often leading to serious self-harm and even suicide. 

Solitary is extremely costly. It costs tens of thousands more per person to hold them in solitary confinement. Colorado and Mississippi decreased their solitary population and closed solitary units, saving $13.5 million and $8 million per year, respectively. 

Solitary disproportionately impacts people of color. Indigenous and Pacific Islanders are twice as likely to be placed in restrictive housing. 

Washington has no regulations on the use of solitary confinement. NY, NJ, CO, and CT have all passed legislation banning or reducing the use of solitary confinement.

HB1192

This bill would require the Department of Corrections to adhere to a preponderance of evidence for disciplinary hearings

UPDATE: As of January 27, the bill is in “Rules.”

~ To stay live this legislative session, it needs to get referred from Rules and get a positive Floor vote by March 12. ~

HB1196

Revoking a person's voting rights only when convicted of a state crime punishable by death

Update: This bill was passed out of the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations on February 11 and referred to Rules for review.

~ For the bill to advance, it would need to get referred out of Rules and have a positive Floor vote by March 12. ~

Watch Charles Longshore and Ralph Dunuan testify on behalf of voting restoration on February 5, 2025 (TVW).

HB1239

Reentry Readiness

UPDATE: HB1239 had a public hearing in the House Safety Committee on Tuesday, January 28. To date, it has not been scheduled to get a vote.

~ If it doesn’t get scheduled and voted ‘yes’ in Executive Session by February 21, the bill will die. ~

The Reentry Readiness bill aligns with and supports existing efforts such as Reentry 2030 and Washington Way/Amend and builds upon previous legislation to improve reentry. The bill restores earned time to 33% for people who are eligible for earned time. The bill also expands existing graduated reentry for those serving sentences of 15 years or more. This addresses existing racial inequities in earned time and graduated reentry.

HB1274 / SB5715

Juvenile Points

UPDATE: HB1274 was passed out of the Safety Committee on February 6 and referred to Appropriations.

~ To stay live this legislative session, it needs to get a positive vote in Appropriations by February 28 ~

In 2023, the Legislature stopped the practice of automatically punishing people twice because of their involvement as children in the juvenile justice system. But this change only applied to new cases. As a result, up to 856 currently incarcerated people – who are disproportionately people of color – do not get the same benefit of the law and are left serving unjust long sentences.
This follow-up bill, HB 1274, will correct this generational inequity, while also recognizing public safety, the support needs of victims, and taking care to not overwhelm the capacity of the court system.

This bill is supported by Look2Justice and ACLU Washington.

HB1317

Emerging Adults

UPDATE: HB1317 successfully passed out of the House Safety Committee!

~ For the bill to advance, it would need to get referred out of Rules and have a positive Floor vote by March 12. ~

This bill increases the age for sentence review consideration from 18 to 25, which aligns state code with modern brain science, decreases incarceration costs, and meaningfully advances efforts to address racial disparities in sentencing. This bill does not guarantee release, but rather offers the opportunity for incarcerated individuals who qualify to go before the Indeterminate Sentence Review Board for consideration. 

SB5219

Expanding partial confinement eligibility

UPDATE: SB 5219 passed in the Senate Committee on Human Services!

~ For the bill to advance, it would need to get referred out of Rules and have a positive Floor vote by March 12. ~

This bill expands eligibility and timing for “partial confinement,” including Community Parenting Alternative, work release and graduated re-entry. It also lengthens the timeline for participation, in some cases from 12 months to the final 18 months of their term.