Colin Gibson, Julia Cramer - December 2025

The 2025 Legislature directed WSIPP to review the policies and funding mechanisms adopted by other states to support the implementation of small modular reactors (SMRs). Small modular reactors are nuclear reactors with a generating capacity of approximately 300 megawatts or less, designed with modular technology that enables factory fabrication.

We identified 79 policies in 35 states supporting the implementation of SMRs. We categorized each policy based on the stage of the site development process it targets, and on the type of activity it involves. Information gathering activities include studies on SMR feasibility, siting, inputs, and regulatory reforms. Coordination efforts include multi-state coalitions and collaboration between state agencies to facilitate SMR construction. Regulatory reforms include rules regarding permitting and integration with electricity markets to expedite approval. Financial support includes cost recovery, tax preferences, competitive grants and loans, and direct subsidies.

These policies typically leverage state resources, including the existing nuclear industry and federal research laboratories. They also address state-specific challenges, including utility structures, permitting requirements, and environmental regulations.

Our analysis includes policies that explicitly affect advanced nuclear reactors. As a result, policies that support energy infrastructure more broadly are not included in our analysis.

Rebecca Goodvin, Cory Briar - December 2025

The 2025 Washington State Legislature directed the Washington State Institute for Public Policy to estimate the potential cost savings to the state if a policy were adopted allowing parents or other legally responsible individuals to become paid caregivers to their minor children with intellectual or developmental disability (I/DD).

In this preliminary report, we provide background on services and policy proposals in Washington. Additionally, we summarize our plans to quantify potential cost savings under a paid parental caregiver policy. Our final report, due November 2026, will present estimates of potential cost savings that could result from a paid parental caregivers policy. Specifically, we will examine the potential for a change in state costs based on families’ use of public benefits, children’s healthcare costs, or children’s out-of-home placements.

Corey Whichard, Micah McFeely - December 2025

During a contact visit, incarcerated individuals meet face-to-face with visitors in a designated area where limited physical contact is allowed. Although past research suggests that participation in contact visits is associated with improved outcomes (e.g., fewer infractions, lower recidivism), there is no published research on contact visits in Washington. We analyzed records from a comprehensive database of all contact visits in Washington prisons between 2008 and 2023 to answer three research questions: (1) Who gets visited? (2) Does visitation impact prison infractions? (3) Does visitation impact recidivism?

We found that about 48% of incarcerated individuals received at least one contact visit during their prison stay. The most powerful predictor of visitation is travel time. Individuals confined in facilities located a short drive from their county of conviction were much more likely to receive visits. We also found that visitation has a complex relationship with whether individuals violate prison rules (i.e., infractions). Visits cause a decrease in violent infractions (e.g., fighting) but an increase in trading infractions (e.g., sharing/loaning items). The risk of receiving a serious infraction dramatically declines during the weeks leading up to a contact visit, increases immediately after the visit, then gradually returns to baseline levels within a few weeks. Finally, we found no evidence that visitation impacts recidivism.

Amani Rashid, Helen Ippolito - September 2025

In November 2012, Washington State voters passed Initiative 502 (I-502), which legalized limited possession, private use, and commercial sales of cannabis for adults. In this study, we explore the relationship between licensed cannabis retail availability in Washington State and healthcare outcomes related to cannabis use disorder (CUD) and mental health disorders, including depression, anxiety, bipolar, and psychotic disorders.

Using claims and encounter data on Medicaid enrollees aged 12-64, we find that residence near a cannabis retailer predicts higher rates of CUD, CUD-related hospitalization, and CUD-related inpatient SUD treatment. Furthermore, we find that living near a retailer predicts higher rates of co-occurring CUD and mental health disorder diagnoses. Last, we find that living near a retailer is associated with an increase in the probability of having a mental health disorder diagnosis following a CUD diagnosis. Evidence suggests that impacts are generally largest in neighborhoods with multiple active retailers nearby.

Julia Cramer - July 2025

WSIPP receives funding from the legislature to conduct research on K–12 education topics. This report focuses on chronic absenteeism in Washington K–12 schools. A student is considered chronically absent when they miss 10% or more days in a school year. Chronic absenteeism is associated with poor academic and non-academic outcomes across all grades.

For this report, we interviewed staff working on attendance and reengagement efforts in eight out of nine Educational Service Districts (ESDs). We summarize their perspectives on why students are chronically absent, what schools are doing to improve attendance, and the challenges they face.

ESD staff reported that students miss school mostly because of illness or mental health issues. Often, students experience situations outside of their control that require them to stay home. Lack of belonging, falling behind in schoolwork, and changing schools are other common reasons.

We learned that schools are most commonly using data to inform attendance efforts, creating attendance teams with dedicated staff focused on attendance initiatives, using communication strategies to educate students and families about the importance of attendance, building relationships with students so they feel welcome at school, and sometimes implementing competitions and incentives to encourage better attendance.

Schools have limited staffing, sometimes prioritize other things besides attendance, struggle to collect and analyze data, and face shifting mindsets about attendance from students and families after the COVID-19 pandemic, all of which challenge their ability to reduce absenteeism.

This is the first report on chronic absenteeism. In June 2026, we will report on the evidence base for interventions on attendance on student outcomes.

Colin Gibson, Corey Whichard - July 2025

Although experimental research is ideal for testing causal relationships between variables, its use in correctional settings is rare for both practical and ethical reasons. This report explores opportunities for improving the quality of WSIPP’s outcome evaluations of prison programs offered by the Washington State Department of Corrections (DOC).

Our analysis finds that six current DOC programs show promise regarding the use of natural experiments to conduct outcome evaluations. However, programs present challenges regarding incomplete data collection, the lack of quality assurance systems, and the use of subjective criteria for determining program eligibility. Practices that could improve future research quality include tracking additional participant and facilitator data, implementing quality assurance systems, and conducting randomized controlled trials of prison programs. Some of these practices would require additional resources or would raise legal or ethical issues.

Travis Taniguchi, Alex Patel - June 2025

Under RCW 72.09.100, the legislature has vested the Department of Corrections (DOC) with the authority to establish a voluntary comprehensive work program. This legislation defines five types of work programs which includes free venture industries (Class I), tax reduction industries (Correctional Industries, Class II), institutional support industries (Class III), and community work industries (Class IV). The most comprehensive and diverse set of work opportunities are operated by Correctional Industries (CI) which offers a variety of goods and services such as institutional food service, furniture manufacturing, and production of textile goods. In addition to work opportunities, CI offers training, certification, and mentorship to people that participate in its programming. In this report, we describe the goods and services produced by CI; the comparability of CI goods relative to items available through traditional vendors; the amount and value of labor provided by people experiencing incarceration; the skill level of assignments available to people that are incarcerated; and the relationship between CI participation and post-incarceration employment.

In FY 2023, CI generated over $100 million in revenue from nearly 3 million labor hours from incarcerated people. The largest purchaser from CI was DOC, predominantly for food and clothing. Items manufactured by CI were generally priced comparably to similar products available through other vendors. The one exception was for prescription eyewear produced by the Optical Division; these were the lowest cost for nearly all items reviewed.

Across all DOC work programs, incarcerated people contributed over 9 million labor hours (equivalent to 4,300 full-time employees) to producing goods and services, maintaining DOC facilities, supporting community projects, and performing forestry fire service. Compensating incarcerated people at minimum wage would increase costs from $9.4 million per year to more than $150 million per year. People that had participated in CI were more likely to find employment after release, find employment sooner, work more hours, and earn more per hour. Due to data limitations, however, these results should be interpreted as descriptive and not causal.

Liqiang Liu, Paige Wanner, Micah McFeely - June 2025

The 2023 Washington State Legislature directed WSIPP to review all assessments and charges imposed on individuals incarcerated in Department of Corrections (DOC) facilities and their family members and the effect of assessments and charges on the financial status of incarcerated individuals. In this report, we quantified the financial costs of items and services incurred by incarcerated individuals during confinement, assessed their financial status, and explored how DOC collected and used the associated commissions and fees.

First, our review shows that while incarcerated individuals initially received certain items free of charge, they were required to purchase replacements for many of these items thereafter. In FY 2024, individuals spent nearly $37 million on additional items and services, with over 93% of the spending concentrated in five major categories: commissary items, phone calls, electronic media services, and food and personal property packages. Additionally, our price comparison analysis indicates that commissary items were priced relatively low.

Second, our analysis reveals that mandatory deductions amounted to roughly 23% of wages and 32% of funds received during FYs 2022-24. Recent policy changes have increased the number of exemptions to those mandatory deductions. Moreover, our assessment shows that the average individual incurred nearly $2,230 annually on additional items and services. Compensation from correctional work assignments could cover nearly 35% of the spending (on average), with the remainder typically paid by family and/or limited debt.

Lastly, our analysis indicates that DOC charged average gross profit margins ranging from 20% to 40% across these five major categories. Additionally, commissions and fees–primarily from phone calls, media services, and incarceration costs–were relatively small (less than 1%) compared to DOC’s budget and were allocated to improvement activities and CI operational expenses.

Benjamin MacCormack-Gelles, Amani Rashid - June 2025

Long-term support services (LTSS) include a range of resources to help people with chronic conditions maintain their quality of life. These services can be adapted to meet the specific needs of adults who have sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI).

We conducted a review of Medicaid programs states use to provide LTSS. Programs that specifically target adults with brain injury are more likely to offer employment and behavioral support. Facility-based services are commonly provided in group home settings and may specify transitional or lifelong support goals. Many states integrate participant self-direction into community-based TBI services. Several states are carefully integrating adults with complex chronic conditions, such as TBI, into managed LTSS.

We used administrative data to estimate the incidence of TBI in Washington, demographics of adults with TBIs, and healthcare outcomes. Older adults are most vulnerable to TBIs, but younger adults represent a large proportion of total injuries. Medicaid-insured adults are hospitalized for TBI at a higher rate than privately insured adults. Privately insured adults account for a larger proportion of TBIs diagnosed in outpatient settings. Rates vary across counties but are not correlated with rurality at that scale.

Cory Briar, Alexandra Johnson - June 2025

The 2023 Washington State Legislature tasked WSIPP with investigating the cost of conservation district (CD) supervisor elections under current law and two alternative policies that would place these elections on the general ballot. WSIPP was also directed to evaluate the potential non-monetary impacts of these alternative policies. To conduct this study, we collected data from all 45 CDs in Washington to summarize election costs, funding, and turnout under current law. We surveyed CD supervisors and staff about the potential impacts of the alternative policies. This final report covers our analysis of CD supervisor elections under current law and the potential monetary and non-monetary impacts of two alternative policies specified in the legislative assignment.

Under current law, CDs vary widely in the cost of their elections. From 2020–2024, total election costs ranged from a low of $50 to nearly $422,000, with a median of $2,500. CDs fund their elections in a number of ways, including state funding, flat per-parcel fees charged at the county level, or the overhead portion of grants they receive to conduct conservation programming. Turnout in CD elections is very low, with only one CD having more than 1% of its eligible voters cast ballots between 2020 and 2024.

We find that both of the alternative election policies would lead to drastic increases in election costs for most CDs. The first policy, which places CD elections on the general ballot, would have resulted in a median election cost increase of 225% per biennium from 2020–2024. This would increase to a 651% increase if primaries were required. The second policy would additionally change elections such that supervisors run for one of five zones within a CD. This policy would have been less costly but would still have led to a median cost increase of 75% over current law (338% with primaries).

CD supervisors and staff communicated that they expected more non-monetary costs than benefits to result from the alternative policies. Many districts shared that the policies could lead to more turnout in elections and engagement with CDs, but some questioned whether this would lead to increased engagement with CDs. Most districts feared the policies would lead to increased politicization of CDs and fewer resources being devoted to conservation programming.