AWB (2023), 10-round mag limit (2022), 10-day waiting period + training (2023 HB 1143), permit-to-purchase enacted 2025, red-flag law, restrictive sensitive-places. Stand-your-ground via case law is small plus. Preemption weakened.

Recreational cannabis legal 2012 (I-502 - first state with Colorado). Seattle deprioritized entheogens. Strong harm reduction including supervised consumption pilot discussions, naloxone access. State Supreme Court struck down felony drug possession (Blake decision, 2021); legislature replaced with misdemeanor framework. Cannabis convictions sealable.

State minimum wage $17.13/hr. MIT living wage for 1 adult: $18.65/hr. Ratio 0.92 — minimum-wage workers earn 92% of what's needed to live there alone.

No income tax (but high sales/excise and capital gains), NAEP scores at or above national average, strong life expectancy, low uninsured rate. USNews #10. Reasonable services for moderate-high effective burden.

IJ grades WA B+ (RCW 69.50.505 reforms). No QI abolition but HB 1310 (2021), HB 1054 (2021) restricted use of force, no-knock warrants, tear gas, vehicle pursuits - among most comprehensive police reforms. Body cam policies expanded. My Health My Data Act (2023) - strongest health privacy in US. SB 5116 limits algorithmic decision-making. Sanctuary state via Keep Washington Working Act.

Universal vote-by-mail since 2011. Early voting effectively continuous via mail. Same-day and automatic registration. No photo ID required. Felons vote after release (parole/probation restored 2022). Bipartisan commission with low partisan bias. WA Voting Rights Act 2018. Consistently top-3 in MIT Election Lab.

Medicaid expansion adopted 2014; Apple Health Expansion covers undocumented adults (capped). Abortion legal up to viability; Reproductive Privacy Act + 2023 shield law. Gender-affirming care shield law. Low uninsured rate. Strong telehealth and mental health parity.

No qualified immunity reform but state-law civil rights claim available. No full statewide BWC mandate (some agencies, state funding). Disciplinary records broadly accessible under PRA. CJTC decertification with public database (HB 1267). HB 1054 restricted no-knock and chokeholds. RCW 10.120 requires necessity, de-escalation, and least-amount-of-force. Office of Independent Investigations created (HB 1267) - independent of local agencies. Chokeholds banned. Per-capita killings near median.

Abortion right protected by statute. Comprehensive LGBTQ+ nondiscrimination. Conversion therapy banned. Shield law including telehealth. Gender-affirming care robustly protected; trans refuge state. LGBTQ+ inclusive curriculum mandate (WA among 7 states). Strong church-state separation.

Not a right-to-work state. Paid family and medical leave (since 2020). Paid sick leave (since 2018). State OSHA plan (DOSH/L&I). Strong prevailing wage. Strongest wage theft enforcement nationally per Oxfam. Outdoor heat rules (since 2008, expanded 2023). Domestic Worker Bill of Rights. Seattle Secure Scheduling. Below-median fatal injury rate. Top-ranked or near-top Oxfam state.