OLYMPIA — An effort to abolish the death penalty in Washington isn’t moving forward in the Legislature this year after the chairwoman of a House committee chose to not bring it up for a vote Thursday in advance of a key deadline.
House Bill 1739, which received a public hearing this week, was scheduled for a vote in the House Judiciary Committee, but Rep. Laurie Jinkins said that while she’s personally supportive of the bill, she didn’t think this was the right time to move forward with it.
The measure would have replaced capital punishment with life in prison, with no opportunity for parole. It also would have required those convicted to work in prison in order to pay restitution to victims’ families. A companion bill that was introduced in the Senate did not receive a public hearing.
