Washington HB 2112 (Adult Site Age Verification)

Washington, United StatesWashington HB 2112Updated March 12, 2026

Stoppedno longer moving
Bad for your rightsDefeated

Got a hearing but no committee vote; died when the 2026 session ended

Washington HB 2112 would have made adult sites verify the age of all visitors through digital ID, a government ID check, or a lookup of transactional records, with Attorney General fines of up to $250,000 extra if a minor got through.

Latest update

Died in committee when the 2026 session ended

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The bill

Read the full billOfficial bill record

Key facts

Where
Washington, United States
Bill number
Washington HB 2112
Status
Defeated
Introduced
January 12, 2026
Threat
Medium
Last update
March 12, 2026

Topics

Age VerificationDigital IDPrivacyFree Speech

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What it does

HB 2112 required any commercial website, social media included, that is more than one-third "sexual material harmful to minors" to verify that anyone trying to access it is 18 or older. Users would have had to show digital identification or pass a commercial check of a government-issued ID or "public or private transactional data," such as mortgage, education, or employment records. Sites and verifiers could not retain identifying information. Sites also had to post Department of Health warnings about "youth health risks" on their landing page and in all ads, in type of 14 points or larger, and show the federal SAMHSA helpline. Only the Attorney General could sue, for up to $10,000 per day, $10,000 per instance of retained identifying information, and up to $250,000 more if a minor got access.

What’s at stake

The ID check falls on adults, who would have had to hand over a digital ID or a government ID, or pass a check against their mortgage, education, or employment records, to view legal content. The bill banned keeping that data but set no security standard for the third-party verifiers who would handle it. Sites would also have had to carry state-written health warnings on their own pages and ads.

Our take

HB 2112 copies most of Texas HB 1181 word for word, including the one-third threshold, the transactional-data option, and the $250,000 penalty, but it has the Department of Health write the health warnings instead of putting the Texas warning text into law. It drew 20 sponsors from both parties and a public hearing on January 16, 2026, and then the committee never voted on it. The Supreme Court upheld the Texas age-verification requirement in June 2025, so Washington lawmakers can bring the same ID checks back in a future session.

Timeline

  1. Died in committee when the 2026 session endedLatest

  2. Public hearing in House Consumer Protection & Business

  3. First reading, referred to House Consumer Protection & Business

  4. Prefiled for introduction

The record

Sponsor

Rep. Mari Leavitt (D-28)

Cosponsors (19)

Rep. Chris Corry (R-15), Rep. Cindy Ryu (D-32), Rep. Stephanie Barnard (R-8), Rep. Lisa Callan (D-5), Rep. Suzanne Schmidt (R-4), Rep. Adison Richards (D-26)

Committee

House Consumer Protection & Business