Advocate for change with KCSARC
2026 STATE LEGISLATIVE SESSION
PRIORITY: Fund crime victims services at $21 million in supplemental budget
Survivors need and deserve immediate and comprehensive response when they seek support. In fact, sexual assault survivors have a right in state law to be referred to support in their community. That response is at risk across Washington state if state lawmakers do not fill a $21 million gap this year in federal funding for these services.
KCSARC is once again partnering with organizations statewide that assist survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse and other violence. Together, we urge state lawmakers this year to keep crime victims services at least level-funded this coming year, while we look down the road to advance a stabilization fund for these services here in King County and statewide.
In his proposed budget, Governor Ferguson allocated $12 million for crime victims services. We are grateful for this starting point, and ask legislators to protect that $12 million — and bring it up to $21 million needed to simply maintain the levels of service survivors can access today.
PRIORITY: Strengthen and protect survivor rights
KCSARC and the statewide Sexual Assault Working Group support SB 6017/HB 2493. These important bills would:
- Reauthorize the Sexual Assault Forensic Examination Advisory Group in the Attorney General’s office through 2028;
- Expand the definition of “sexual assault survivor” within the survivor bill of rights to include victims of female genital mutilation/cutting;
- Allow young people age 13+ to seek domestic violence nonfatal strangulation medical forensic exams;
- Prevents survivors from being questioned by defendants who self-represent in legal proceedings.
We are monitoring several other bills during this short, 60-day session. Please sign up below for our legislative advocacy alerts for timely information and updates.
About our advocacy
KCSARC works at the state, local and federal level to strengthen public policies and resources that support survivors of sexual assault. Together with our supporters, partners, and with courageous survivors who participate in our Empowered Voices program, we are proud of the strides we’ve made on a number of fronts.
- Services at risk: We alerted state legislators that rising demand for services paired with both steep decreases in federal Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) funding and two decades of level state funding put availability of victim services at risk. State lawmakers have responded in recent years with one-time supplemental appropriations in the state budget. That stopgap funding helped temporarily stave off further reductions in services for victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse and other violent crimes. With our statewide and local partners, KCSARC will continue to advocate at all levels of government for funding and permanent resources that stabilize victim services.
- Preventing sexual abuse, now and in the future: We have ensured every K-12 student in the state of Washington can access comprehensive sexual health education and with it, foundational lessons that better help identify sexual abuse and prevent sexual violence from happening.
- Increased access and removed barriers to Sexual Assault Protection Orders: Survivors can now seek SAPO protections effective for up to a lifetime. In 2021, we supported landmark legislation that removed barriers to protection orders for survivors.
- Eliminated the Statute of Limitations to prosecute child sexual abuse, and increased the time for adult victims to come forward.
- Called for prioritization of sexual assault survivors awaiting justice in the criminal justice system in King County — see our “Long Wait” report, and its 2024 follow up, Navigating Justice, which examined the experiences and outcomes of 408 victims in the King County Superior Court system.
- Co-hosted the first-ever Summit on Crime Survivors held in King County in 2025, bringing together survivors, advocates, community groups, prosecutors, law enforcement, judges and elected officials to focus what crime survivors and their families need to recover and heal.
There’s more to do — and we need your help
We need to ensure every victim is able to speak their truth — and be heard. We’re working to stabilize supportive community resources for survivors, and for laws that protect survivors, uphold their rights and prevent further harm when they engage in the criminal justice system.
Join our email alert system to be the first to know when it’s time to speak up with your legislators about policies that impact survivors. We’ll let you know what the issue is and how to contact the right decision-makers.