Washington House Bill HB1954

Washington 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/12/25
• Refer: 2/12/25

Caption

AN ACT Relating to establishing criminal and civil penalties for destruction of critical communications infrastructure;

Summary

HB1954 creates a new crime for the destruction of critical communications infrastructure and adds a related civil remedy. Under the bill, a person commits the offense if, with intent to cause damage, the person commits theft or otherwise causes harm to communications infrastructure — including both physical and cyber components — that provide voice, video, or data services, and thereby damages or renders those services inoperable. The offense is classified as a class C felony. The bill also authorizes a private civil action by a person who suffers injury to person, business, or property from the prohibited conduct. A successful plaintiff may recover damages, costs, and reasonable investigative and attorney fees. In addition to creating these new provisions, the bill amends Washington’s criminal code definitions and penalty tables to incorporate the new offense among other serious crimes for sentencing purposes.

Impact

HB1954 would add a new chapter provision to Washington law defining and penalizing destruction of critical communications infrastructure, expanding state criminal law to cover attacks on telecommunications systems and related cyber/physical components. It also creates a separate civil cause of action, giving injured parties a direct path to seek damages and litigation costs from perpetrators. The bill further updates the state’s seriousness-level sentencing tables so the new offense is integrated into Washington’s felony classification and penalty framework, affecting prosecutors, courts, infrastructure operators, and victims of service disruption.

Sentiment

The available record shows no committee transcript, vote tally, or recorded floor debate, so there is no documented public sentiment from legislative discussion in the materials provided. Based on the bill’s structure, it appears aimed at protecting essential communications networks and providing both criminal and civil enforcement tools, suggesting a policy focus on infrastructure security and public safety rather than a controversial regulatory change.

Contention

No specific points of contention are captured in the provided materials. Potential areas of debate, if raised, would likely involve the scope of what counts as “critical communications infrastructure,” the inclusion of both physical and cyber components, the intent requirement, and whether a class C felony plus civil damages and attorney fees is the appropriate penalty level. The record provided does not identify any legislators, stakeholders, or opponents taking positions on these issues.