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STATE OF OKLAHOMA
1st Session of the 60th Legislature (2025)
HOUSE BILL 2243 By: Waldron
AS INTRODUCED
An Act relating to state government; denouncing
antisemitism; adopting definitions; creating
guidelines for antisemitism discrimination; providing
for codification; and providing an effective date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 13001 of Title 74, unless there
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
The Legislature finds that:
1. Antisemitism, including harassment on the basis of actual or
perceived Jewish origin, ancestry, ethnicity, identity, affiliation,
or faith, remains a persistent, pervasive, and disturbing problem in
contemporary American society;
2. Jewish people continue to be a targeted minority in the
United States. Data shows, for instance, that Jews are consistently
the most likely of all religious groups to be victimized by
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incidents of hate, and that such incidents are increasing at an
alarming rate;
3. State officials and institutions have a responsibility to
protect citizens from acts of hate and bigotry motivated by
discriminatory animus, including antisemitism, and must be given the
tools to do so;
4. Valid monitoring, informed analysis and investigation, and
effective policymaking all require uniform definitions;
5. While there can be no exhaustive definition of antisemitism,
as it can take many forms, the International Holocaust Remembrance
Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition has been an essential
definitional tool used to determine contemporary manifestations of
antisemitism and includes useful examples of discriminatory anti-
Israel acts that can cross the line into antisemitism;
6. The IHRA definition is used by various agencies of the
federal government and by over 30 governments around the world,
recommended for use by the European Council and the European
Parliament, endorsed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations,
included in policy guides prepared by the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe, and has been formally adopted by a
growing number of nations, cities, universities, and civil society
organizations; and
7. Use of this definition of antisemitism, although it is not
to be taken as an exhaustive definition, will increase the awareness
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and understanding of the parameters of contemporary anti-Jewish
discrimination in certain circumscribed areas.
SECTION 2. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 13002 of Title 74, unless there
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A. As used in this section, the term "antisemitism" has the
same meaning as provided for in the working definition of
antisemitism adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance
Alliance (IHRA) on May 26, 2016, and includes the examples of
antisemitism set forth therein.
B. All state departments and agencies shall consider
antisemitism as evidence of discriminatory intent for any law or
policy in this state which prohibits discrimination based on race,
color, religion, or national origin or provides for enhanced
criminal penalties for criminal offenses when the defendant
intentionally selected any victim or group of victims or any
property as the object of the offense because of such victim's or
group of victims' actual or perceived race, color, religion, or
national origin.
C. Nothing in this section shall be construed to diminish or
infringe upon any right protected under the First Amendment to the
United States Constitution or the Oklahoma Constitution.
D. Nothing in this section shall be construed to conflict with
local, federal, or state discrimination laws.
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E. Nothing in this section shall be construed to alter the
evidentiary requirements pursuant to which an agency or department
makes a determination that conduct, including harassment, amounts to
actionable discrimination, or to diminish or infringe upon the
rights protected under any other provision of law.
F. Nothing in this section shall be construed to impair or
otherwise affect the authority granted by law to a department or
agency.
G. This section is not intended to and does not create any
right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or
in equity by any party against the state, its departments, agencies,
or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other
person.
SECTION 3. This act shall become effective November 1, 2025.
60-1-11713 TKR 01/15/24