Major religious holidays

AN ACT Relating to recognizing major religious holidays; 1
reenacting and amending RCW 1.16.050; and creating a new section.2
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:3
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The legislature recognizes the 4
importance of accommodating diverse religious practices and 5
acknowledges the cultural and historical significance of certain 6
Christian and Jewish holidays celebrated by Washingtonians.7
(2) The legislature finds that the recognitions in this act 8
promote inclusivity and respect for diverse faith communities in 9
Washington state. 10
Sec. 2. RCW 1.16.050 and 2025 c 58 s 1001 and 2025 c 30 s 1 are 11
each reenacted and amended to read as follows: 12
(1) The following are state legal holidays: 13
(a) Sunday; 14
(b) The first day of January, commonly called New Year's Day;15
(c) The third Monday of January, celebrated as the anniversary of 16
the birth of Martin Luther King, Jr.; 17
(d) The third Monday of February, to be known as Presidents' Day 18
and celebrated as the anniversary of the births of Abraham Lincoln 19
and George Washington; 20
H-2498.1
HOUSE BILL 2166
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Representatives Marshall, Abell, Corry, Burnett, Keaton, Dye,
Penner, Rude, Jacobsen, Chase, Walsh, Schmidt, Ley, Low, Barkis,
Barnard, Reed, Connors, Graham, Valdez, and Couture
Prefiled 12/17/25. Read first time 01/12/26. Referred to Committee
on State Government & Tribal Relations.
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(e) The last Monday of May, commonly known as Memorial Day;1
(f) The nineteenth day of June, recognized as Juneteenth, a day 2
of remembrance for the day the African slaves learned of their 3
freedom; 4
(g) The fourth day of July, the anniversary of the Declaration of 5
Independence; 6
(h) The first Monday in September, to be known as Labor Day;7
(i) The eleventh day of November, to be known as Veterans Day;8
(j) The fourth Thursday in November, to be known as Thanksgiving 9
Day; 10
(k) The Friday immediately following the fourth Thursday in 11
November, to be known as Native American Heritage Day; and12
(l) The twenty-fifth day of December, commonly called Christmas 13
Day. 14
(2) Employees of the state and its political subdivisions, except 15
employees of school districts and except those nonclassified 16
employees of institutions of higher education who hold appointments 17
or are employed under contracts to perform services for periods of 18
less than twelve consecutive months, are entitled to one paid holiday 19
per calendar year in addition to those specified in this section. 20
Each employee of the state or its political subdivisions may select 21
the day on which the employee desires to take the additional holiday 22
provided for in this section after consultation with the employer 23
pursuant to guidelines to be promulgated by rule of the appropriate 24
personnel authority, or in the case of local government by ordinance 25
or resolution of the legislative authority. 26
(3) Employees of the state and its political subdivisions, 27
including employees of school districts and those nonclassified 28
employees of institutions of higher education who hold appointments 29
or are employed under contracts to perform services for periods of 30
less than twelve consecutive months, are entitled to two unpaid 31
holidays per calendar year for a reason of faith or conscience or an 32
organized activity conducted under the auspices of a religious 33
denomination, church, or religious organization. This includes 34
employees of public institutions of higher education, including 35
community colleges, technical colleges, and workforce training 36
programs. The employee may select the days on which the employee 37
desires to take the two unpaid holidays after consultation with the 38
employer pursuant to guidelines to be promulgated by rule of the 39
appropriate personnel authority, or in the case of local government 40
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by ordinance or resolution of the legislative authority. If an 1
employee prefers to take the two unpaid holidays on specific days for 2
a reason of faith or conscience, or an organized activity conducted 3
under the auspices of a religious denomination, church, or religious 4
organization, the employer must allow the employee to do so unless 5
the employee's absence would impose an undue hardship on the employer 6
or the employee is necessary to maintain public safety. Undue 7
hardship shall have the meaning established in rule by the office of 8
financial management under RCW 43.41.109. 9
(4) If any of the state legal holidays specified in this section 10
are also federal legal holidays but observed on different dates, only 11
the state legal holidays are recognized as a paid legal holiday for 12
employees of the state and its political subdivisions. However, for 13
port districts and the law enforcement and public transit employees 14
of municipal corporations, either the federal or the state legal 15
holiday is recognized as a paid legal holiday, but in no case may 16
both holidays be recognized as a paid legal holiday for employees.17
(5) Whenever any state legal holiday: 18
(a) Other than Sunday, falls upon a Sunday, the following Monday 19
is the legal holiday; or 20
(b) Falls upon a Saturday, the preceding Friday is the legal 21
holiday. 22
(6) Nothing in this section may be construed to have the effect 23
of adding or deleting the number of paid holidays provided for in an 24
agreement between employees and employers of political subdivisions 25
of the state or as established by ordinance or resolution of the 26
local government legislative authority. 27
(7) The legislature declares that the following days are 28
recognized as provided in this subsection, but may not be considered 29
legal holidays for any purpose: 30
(a) The eleventh day of January, recognized as human trafficking 31
awareness day; 32
(b) The thirteenth day of January, recognized as Korean American 33
day; 34
(c) The date corresponding with the second new moon following the 35
winter solstice, or the third new moon following the winter solstice 36
should an intercalary month intervene, recognized as the lunar new 37
year; 38
(d) The twenty-sixth day of January, recognized as Washington 39
army and air national guard day; 40
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(e) The nineteenth day of February, recognized as civil liberties 1
day of remembrance; 2
(f) The ninth day of March, recognized as Billy Frank Jr. day;3
(g) The thirtieth day of March, recognized as welcome home 4
Vietnam veterans day; 5
(h) The thirty-first day of March, recognized as Cesar Chavez 6
day; 7
(i) The ninth day of April, recognized as former prisoner of war 8
recognition day; 9
(j) The tenth day of April, recognized as Dolores Huerta day;10
(k) The sixteenth day of April, recognized as Mother Joseph day;11
(l) The fifteenth day of May, recognized as water safety day;12
(m) The twenty-seventh day of July, recognized as national Korean 13
war veterans armistice day; 14
(n) The seventh day of August, recognized as purple heart 15
recipient recognition day; 16
(o) The fourth day of September, recognized as Marcus Whitman 17
day; 18
(p) The fourth Saturday of September, recognized as public lands 19
day; 20
(q) The second Sunday in October, recognized as Washington state 21
children's day; 22
(r) The twelfth day of October, recognized as Columbus day;23
(s) The seventh day of December, recognized as Pearl Harbor 24
remembrance day; 25
(t) The eighteenth day of December, recognized as blood donor 26
day; 27
(u) The twenty-fourth day of December, recognized as Christmas 28
eve;29
(v) The first Sunday after the Paschal full moon, which is the 30
first full moon after the spring equinox, recognized as Easter 31
Sunday;32
(w) The first day of the tenth month of the Islamic calendar, 33
which is lunar-cycle based and shifts by approximately 10 to 11 days 34
each year, commonly called Eid al-Fitr; ((and35
(v))) (x) The tenth day of the twelfth month of the Islamic 36
calendar, which is lunar-cycle based and shifts by approximately 10 37
to 11 days each year, commonly called Eid al-Adha;38
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(y) The Friday before the first Sunday after the Paschal full 1
moon, which is the first full moon after the spring equinox, 2
recognized as Good Friday;3
(z) The eight days beginning on the twenty-fifth day of Kislev in 4
the Hebrew calendar, recognized as Hanukkah;5
(aa) The eight days beginning on the fifteenth day of Nisan in 6
the Hebrew calendar, recognized as Passover;7
(bb) The first and second days of Tishrei in the Hebrew calendar, 8
recognized a Rosh Hashanah; and9
(cc) The tenth day of Tishrei in the Hebrew calendar, recognized 10
as Yom Kippur. 11
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