Legislative Agenda 2024

Banner image with a photo the WA state capitol on one side and a geometric blue wave red star and text that reads Legislative Agenda 2024 on the right set against a yellow background
Last year, the Legislature demonstrated its leadership and promoted Washington as a beacon of liberty in the nation through expanding access to health care, safeguarding privacy, and making our criminal legal system more just.

Even with these advances, we need our Legislature’s leadership more than ever this year. In 2024, we will advocate for legislation to protect access to reproductive and gender affirming care, increase fairness in the criminal legal system, and assure that people can exercise their freedoms and live safely and securely in every community in our state. Yet again, Washington has an opportunity to set an example for the country. We call on our elected lawmakers to lead our state toward addressing the root causes of problems and building a better Washington for everyone.

We created our 2024 Legislative Agenda after deep analysis and thorough consultation with impacted community members, allied organizations, and legal and policy experts. We look forward to supporting lawmakers in Olympia as they take on the challenge of building a more equitable, safe, and just Washington.


(Bill numbers, links to legislative trackers, and educational materials will be provided below as they become available.)

Protecting access to affordable, quality health care: 

The ACLU of Washington is working in coalition to bring transparency and oversight to hospital entity  consolidations to ensure access to quality health care for everyone across Washington State. These consolidations are prolific in Washington — with minimal oversight — and can negatively impact cost, quality and access to necessary health care services, including end-of-life, reproductive, and gender affirming care. The Keep Our Care Act (KOCA) would provide oversight and help safeguard community access to health care.

Pass the Keep Our Care Act (HB 1263/SB 5241)

SPONSORS
House: Simmons, Stonier, Macri, Pollet
Senate: Randall, Rolfes, Kuderer, Trudeau, Pedersen, Shewmake, Hunt, Saldaña, Kauffman, Valdez, Lovick, Robinson, Lovelett, Liias, Frame, Nguyen, Stanford, Wilson

STATUS
House - HB 1263: In Civil Rights & Judiciary
Senate - SB 5241: Passed Senate - In House Civil Rights & Judiciary



LEARN MORE


TAKE ACTION
Attend the virtual Keep Our Care Act Community Education Panel on Thursday, January 25, 2024 at 6 pm.

Reducing Police Violence and Strengthening Accountability:

The ACLU-WA seeks to address racially discriminatory police practices in order to increase safety for everyone. The Traffic Safety for All bill prioritizes safety stops, which data shows increases safety on the roads while reducing racial disproportionality in traffic stops. The bill also provides community funding to shift focus away from fees, fines and punitive enforcement and towards helping people fix their vehicles to increase compliance and road safety.
 
In cases where officers have harmed people, we want to strengthen the ability to provide justice for victims of police misconduct and bring systemic change to departments. The Attorney General’s Investigations and Reform bill strengthens the AG’s authority to address systemic violations of the Washington constitution or laws at police departments and jails by elevating resources, solutions, and accountability.

Pass Traffic Safety For All (HB 1513/SB 5572)

Pass AG Investigation and Reform  (HB 1445)

Transforming Sentencing and Reentry:

If Washington state were a country, it would have the sixth highest incarceration rate in the world. For decades, Washington state has been overly reliant on life and long sentences. Yet, instead of keeping people safe, these sentences have devastated marginalized communities. In collaboration with formerly and currently incarcerated allies, the ACLU-WA seeks to advance developmentally appropriate, evidence-based sentencing laws that promote public safety and lead with racial justice.

Pass Emerging Adults (HB 1325/SB 5451)

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. 

SPONSORS
House: Hackney, Fitzgibbon, Simmons, Walen, Lekanoff, Doglio, Pollet, Macri
Senate: Frame, Saldaña, Hasegawa, Kuderer, Lovelett, Nguyen, Valdez

STATUS
House - HB 1325: In Community Safety, Justice, & Reentry Committee
Senate - SB 5451: In Law & Justice Committee




LEARN MORE

Pass Juvenile Points (HB 2065/SB 5971)

In the 2023 session, the Legislature passed, and the Governor signed into law EHB 1324, which stopped the practice of automatically giving people longer sentences because of prior juvenile adjudications, while still maintaining the ability for judges to see and consider a person’s juvenile record in sentencing. However, as enacted, EHB 1324 leaves the harms of the past unresolved by denying relief to those currently incarcerated.   

This year, a coalition that includes formerly and currently incarcerated allies is returning to Olympia to make this law retroactive and pass the juvenile points trailer bill. 

SPONSORS
House: Stearns, Hackney, Ramel, Simmons, Reed, Ormsby, Street, Gregerson, Doglio, Lekanoff, Fosse, Santos, Reeves, Pollet
Senate: Kauffman, Frame, Dhingra, Hasegawa, Keiser, Lovelett, Nguyen, Nobles, Stanford, Valdez, Wellman, Wilson.

STATUS
House - HB 2065: Passed House - in Senate Ways & Means Committe 
Senate - SB 5971: In Ways & Means Committee 


LEARN MORE