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“This is a moment, I do believe, where if you look at history things are static, static, static, and then boom, the conditions exist when big changes can take place.”
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, June 8, 2020
Washington’s state legislature completed its 105-day regular session on April 25 after passing a large number of measures that will benefit working class Washingtonians. These items include police, labor and housing reform bills, as well a new capital gains tax and increased funding for human needs.
After a historic year of protest and unprecedented levels of civic engagement, the Legislature passed a number of bills related to policing. These bills include a ban on chokeholds, neck restraints and no-knock warrants, limits on use of military equipment and tear gas, a requirement for officers to intervene if they see colleagues using excessive force or engaging in misconduct and an overhaul of the process for decertifying police officers fired for misconduct or excessive force to prevent them from being re-hired in another jurisdiction. One of the bills establishes a new Office of Independent Investigations to investigate all police uses of deadly force in the state, starting July 2022, as well as prior killings if new evidence is brought forth.