HB 2351 Washington House · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Protecting emergency responders and emergency response operations in Washington.

HB 2351 strengthens protections for emergency responders in Washington by expanding the definition of "obstruction" to cover firefighters, EMTs, and other emergency personnel during active incidents. It makes it a gross misdemeanor to willfully hinder these responders when they are identifiable as such, with specific provisions allowing defense if a mental health crisis was involved. The bill also prohibits local government agencies (cities, counties, and emergency command systems) from using public funds to investigate or assist federal programs targeting emergency responders based on immigration status, race, religion, or national origin - except for required legal compliance or non-immigration-related duties. These changes apply to all emergency responders as defined in the law, effective January 1, 2027.

Issues: ✓ Criminal Justice

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 9, 2026 Last action Feb 19, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Bill → Substitute Bill · 5 edits

MODERATE

The bill was amended to expand the definition of protected emergency responders to include those responding to road closure incidents and to add a mental health crisis defense for obstruction charges. Additionally, the bill was streamlined by removing separate sections for cities and counties, merging them into a single provision, and adjusting the timeline for compliance to January 1, 2027. A new affirmative defense was added allowing individuals to avoid obstruction charges if they were experiencing a mental health crisis at the time of the incident.

Scope change

The scope of protection was expanded to include emergency responders engaged in road closure incidents, and the bill's applicability was consolidated by removing duplicate sections for different government levels.

DEFINITION

Added a new category to the definition of 'emergency responder' to explicitly include employees responding to or engaged in emergency road closure incidents.

ENFORCEMENT

Added a new subsection establishing an affirmative defense where a person charged with obstructing an emergency responder can avoid liability if they prove by a preponderance of the evidence they were experiencing a mental health crisis at the time of the conduct.

REQUIREMENT

Removed separate sections for cities/towns and counties, consolidating their requirements into a single section to reduce redundancy.

Modified the exception for funding-related requirements to only apply if the policy, grant, waiver, or requirement was in effect prior to April 15, 2026.

TIMELINE

Adjusted the implementation timeline for the new city and county provisions to require full compliance by January 1, 2028, with changes made as expeditiously as possible by January 1, 2027.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Jan 30, 2026

Committee

Referred to Rules 2 Review.

lower

Jan 27, 2026

Lower · Passed

Minority; do not pass.

lower

Jan 27, 2026

Lower · Passed

Executive action taken in the House Committee on Technology, Economic Development, & Veterans at 10:30 AM.

lower

Jan 23, 2026

Lower · Passed

Executive session scheduled, but no action was taken in the House Committee on Technology, Economic Development, & Veterans at 10:30 AM.

lower

Jan 16, 2026

Lower · Passed

Public hearing in the House Committee on Technology, Economic Development, & Veterans at 10:30 AM.

lower

1 primary · 20 co-sponsors