OLYMPIA, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – The Attorney General’s Office is going to test out a hate crime hotline in some a few counties in Washington.

Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced on Wednesday, June 26, that the pilot program will launch in King, Clark and Spokane Counties by July 2025. State legislature passed the bill to develop the hotline earlier this year with support from both sides of the aisle.

This new hotline aims to provide support to victims of a hate crime as well as to provide a platform for hate crimes to be reported.

Kristin Ang of Faith Action Network spoke during the legislative session on how the hotline would provide data valuable to combatting hate crimes.

“This bill proposes a centralized system for reporting and tracking hate crimes, thereby facilitating data collection and pattern recognition,” Ang said. “Therefore, we can understand the scale and nature of the problem we are facing.”

They add the importance of the bill for the victims.

“This bill provides victims with immediate access to resources and support, referrals to counseling, to legal assistance, so this is not just about reporting incidents, it is about providing tangible help for those in need.”

The program will expand to the rest of the state by the end of 2026.