The bill creates a new section in chapter 72.01 RCW and amends RCW 72.09.765. It requires the departments of corrections and children, youth, and families to provide real-time audio-only phone service to people in custody in state facilities, allows supplementing with video and electronic messaging, and requires that any voice or other communication service be provided free to both the caller and recipient. The departments must at minimum maintain the same level of access to these services as existed on January 1, 2025; the department of corrections must provide tablets to all people in its custody at no cost and maintain the same number of wall phones per housing unit as of January 1, 2025; if DCYF provides tablets they must be free. The bill bars the department from receiving revenue, commissions, or fees from providing these communication services and prohibits using communications services to replace in-person visits. The amendment to RCW 72.09.765 makes procedural changes requiring any contract for telecommunications and electronic media services in state correctional facilities to be publicly posted on the department website, displayed in housing units, and available on tablets, and to include detailed rates and fees. Contractors must annually report by July 1 to the department with specified service, usage, fee, cost, and customer service data; the department must report annually by November 1 to the governor and legislature on contracts and contractor compliance. The act is titled the "Connecting Families Act," applies to contracts in effect on June 11, 2020 and to renegotiations, renewals, or extensions, and takes effect December 1, 2025. Definitions for voice and other communications, confined, department, and relevant service terms are included. The text does not describe enforcement mechanisms, funding for providing free tablets and services, or whether other sections of the bill exist beyond the provided content.

If enacted, people confined in Washington state facilities would be able to make real‑time phone calls and use other communication services (including video and messaging) without being charged, and the Department of Corrections must give tablets at no cost to everyone in its custody while keeping at least the same number of wall phones per housing unit as existed on January 1, 2025; contractors’ service contracts, pricing, and detailed usage and financial reports must be publicly posted and submitted to the department each year, and the department must report to the governor and legislature annually. These changes are meant to lower or eliminate the direct cost of communication for incarcerated people and their contacts and to increase transparency about service pricing and usage, with the law taking effect December 1, 2025 and reporting deadlines of July 1 for contractors and November 1 for the department. The most affected parties are people in custody (who would pay less or nothing for calls and tablets), the Department of Corrections and the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (which bear new obligations to provide free devices and services, maintain phone access, and publish reports), and existing contractors (who would lose commission revenue and face new public disclosure and annual reporting burdens). The practical implication is likely higher direct costs and operational work for state agencies and reduced revenue or contract flexibility for vendors; the act does not specify how the departments will fund free devices, ongoing service costs, or enforcement of the no‑revenue rule, so those funding and implementation details remain unclear.