Religious liberty commission

AN ACT Relating to establishing the Washington state religious 1
liberty commission; amending RCW 49.60.120; adding a new section to 2
chapter 49.60 RCW; and adding a new chapter to Title 43 RCW.3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. It is the intent of the legislature to 5
reaffirm its commitment to promote and protect the free exercise of 6
religious beliefs and practices. It is also the intent of the 7
legislature that a religious liberty commission be established to 8
advise and educate the governor, legislature, and people of 9
Washington regarding the free exercise of religious liberty in 10
accordance with Article I, section 11 of the Washington state 11
Constitution and the First Amendment of the United States 12
Constitution.13
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. The Washington state religious liberty 14
commission is established. The commission shall be administered by an 15
executive director, who shall be appointed by and serve at the 16
pleasure of the governor. The governor shall set the salary of the 17
executive director. The executive director may employ staff of the 18
commission as necessary to carry out its purpose and duties.19
H-2726.3
HOUSE BILL 2342
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Representatives Abell, Graham, Barnard, and Marshall
Prefiled 01/08/26. Read first time 01/12/26. Referred to Committee
on Civil Rights & Judiciary.
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NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. (1) The Washington state religious liberty 1
commission consists of the following five members:2
(a) One member of the public appointed by the governor;3
(b) Two members of the public, one appointed by the majority 4
leader of the senate and one appointed by the minority leader of the 5
senate; and 6
(c) Two members of the public, one appointed by the speaker of 7
the house of representatives and one appointed by the minority leader 8
of the house of representatives. 9
(2) To the extent practicable, when making appointments to the 10
Washington state religious liberty commission, each appointing 11
authority is encouraged to consider appointments that will achieve a 12
balanced representation based on religious practices and beliefs 13
represented within the state, geographical location, sex, age, and 14
occupation. 15
(3) The members shall, by majority vote, select the chair of the 16
Washington state religious liberty commission. 17
(4) Members serve three-year terms. Initial appointment terms are 18
as follows: 19
(a) The individual appointed by the governor serves a three-year 20
term; 21
(b) The individual appointed by the majority leader of the senate 22
and the individual appointed by the speaker of the house of 23
representatives each serve a three-year term; 24
(c) The individual appointed by the minority leader of the senate 25
serves a two-year term; and 26
(d) The individual appointed by the minority leader of the house 27
of representatives serves a one-year term. 28
(5) In the case of a vacancy, appointments are made in the same 29
manner as the original appointment and are for the remainder of the 30
unexpired term. No member may serve more than two full consecutive 31
terms. 32
(6) Nonlegislative members must be reimbursed for expenses 33
incurred in the performance of their duties in accordance with RCW 34
43.03.050 and 43.03.060. 35
(7) A simple majority of the Washington state religious liberty 36
commission's membership constitutes a quorum for the purpose of 37
conducting business. 38
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NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. The Washington state religious liberty 1
commission has the following duties:2
(1) Advise the governor and legislature on religious liberty and 3
freedom of conscience matters; 4
(2) Educate members of the public, as well as employers, 5
realtors, and financial institutions, regarding state laws governing 6
freedom of religion and conscience; and 7
(3) Receive and evaluate petitions for further investigation, 8
consistent with section 6 of this act, alleging discrimination on the 9
basis of religious belief or practice, or dictates of conscience.10
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. (1) The Washington state religious liberty 11
commission may initiate a complaint if, in the course of education 12
and outreach, the commission discovers that a person or entity has 13
discriminated against another on the basis of religious belief or 14
practice, or dictates of conscience.15
(2) If a complaint is initiated by the Washington state religious 16
liberty commission, the commission must, within 90 days of initiating 17
the complaint: 18
(a) Dismiss the complaint; 19
(b) Offer the parties involved voluntary dispute mediation, the 20
proceedings of which must be governed by chapter 7.07 RCW; or21
(c) Refer the matter to the Washington state human rights 22
commission in a format mutually agreed upon by the religious liberty 23
commission and the human rights commission. Such referrals must 24
follow the process in section 8 of this act. 25
(3) The selection of a mediator must comply with section 6 (3) of 26
this act. 27
NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. (1) Any person who believes there has been 28
an act of discrimination by another on the basis of religious belief 29
or practice, or dictates of conscience, may file a petition with the 30
Washington state religious liberty commission to conduct further 31
investigation.32
(2) The Washington state religious liberty commission shall, 33
within 90 days of receiving a petition filed pursuant to this 34
section, evaluate the allegations within the petition and, by 35
majority vote: 36
(a) Deny the petition and provide the reasoning for the denial;37
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(b) Offer the petitioner and responding party voluntary dispute 1
mediation, the proceedings of which must be governed by chapter 7.07 2
RCW; or 3
(c) Refer the matter to the Washington state human rights 4
commission in a format mutually agreed upon by the religious liberty 5
commission and the human rights commission. Such referrals must 6
follow the process in section 8 of this act. 7
(3) If the parties agree to mediation, the Washington state 8
religious liberty executive director shall provide the parties with a 9
list of neutral mediators and the parties must mutually select a 10
mediator from the list provided. If the parties cannot agree on a 11
mediator, the executive director shall appoint the mediator.12
Sec. 7. RCW 49.60.120 and 2020 c 52 s 5 are each amended to read 13
as follows: 14
The commission shall have the functions, powers, and duties:15
(1) To appoint an executive director and chief examiner, and such 16
investigators, examiners, clerks, and other employees and agents as 17
it may deem necessary, fix their compensation within the limitations 18
provided by law, and prescribe their duties. 19
(2) To obtain upon request and utilize the services of all 20
governmental departments and agencies. 21
(3) To adopt, amend, and rescind suitable rules to carry out the 22
provisions of this chapter, and the policies and practices of the 23
commission in connection therewith. 24
(4) To receive, impartially investigate, and pass upon complaints 25
alleging unfair practices as defined in this chapter or matters 26
referred to the commission by the Washington state religious liberty 27
commission pursuant to sections 5 and 6 of this act. Matters referred 28
to the human rights commission must follow the procedure in section 8 29
of this act. 30
(5) To issue such publications and results of investigations and 31
research as in its judgment will tend to promote good will and 32
minimize or eliminate discrimination because of sex, sexual 33
orientation, race, creed, color, national origin, citizenship or 34
immigration status, marital status, age, honorably discharged veteran 35
or military status, or the presence of any sensory, mental, or 36
physical disability, or the use of a trained dog guide or service 37
animal by a person with a disability. 38
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(6) To make such technical studies as are appropriate to 1
effectuate the purposes and policies of this chapter and to publish 2
and distribute the reports of such studies. The commission may also 3
issue publications and results of investigations resulting from 4
petitions referred to it by the Washington state religious liberty 5
commission.6
(7) To cooperate and act jointly or by division of labor with the 7
United States or other states, with other Washington state agencies, 8
commissions, and other government entities, and with political 9
subdivisions of the state of Washington and their respective human 10
rights agencies to carry out the purposes of this chapter. However, 11
the powers which may be exercised by the commission under this 12
subsection permit investigations and complaint dispositions only if 13
the investigations are designed to reveal, or the complaint deals 14
only with, allegations which, if proven, would constitute unfair 15
practices under this chapter. The commission may perform such 16
services for these agencies and be reimbursed therefor.17
(8) To foster good relations between minority and majority 18
population groups of the state through seminars, conferences, 19
educational programs, and other intergroup relations activities.20
NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. A new section is added to chapter 49.60 21
RCW to read as follows: 22
(1) Upon receipt of a petition or complaint referred to it by the 23
Washington state religious liberty commission pursuant to section 5 24
or 6 of this act, the human rights commission shall, within 30 days 25
of receiving such referral: 26
(a) Adopt the findings of the Washington state religious liberty 27
commission in whole or in part and take any action as is appropriate 28
in accordance with the provisions of this chapter; or29
(b) Initiate its own investigation and take any action as is 30
appropriate in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.31
(2) The human rights commission must provide written explanation 32
to the director of the Washington state religious liberty commission 33
of any findings by the Washington state religious liberty commission 34
that are not adopted by the human rights commission and the 35
reasoning. 36
NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. (1) The Washington state religious liberty 37
commission may solicit and receive gifts, grants, and endowments from 38
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public or private sources that are made for the use or benefit of the 1
commission and expend the same or any income therefrom according to 2
their terms and the purpose of this chapter. The commission's 3
executive director shall make a report of such funds received from 4
private sources to the office of financial management on a regular 5
basis. Such funds received from private sources must not be applied 6
to reduce or substitute for the commission's budget as appropriated 7
by the legislature, but must be applied and expended toward projects 8
and functions authorized by this chapter that were not funded by the 9
legislature. 10
(2) In carrying out its duties, the Washington state religious 11
liberty commission may establish such relationships with public and 12
private institutions, local governments, private industry, community 13
organizations, and other segments of the general public as may be 14
needed to promote equal opportunity for people of all religious 15
faiths in government, education, economic security, employment, and 16
services. 17
(3)(a) The Washington state religious liberty commission may hold 18
hearings, subpoena witnesses, compel their attendance, administer 19
oaths, take the testimony of any person under oath, and in connection 20
therewith, to require the production for examination of any books or 21
papers relating to any matter under investigation or in question 22
before the commission. 23
(b) The commission may apply for and obtain a superior court 24
order approving and authorizing a subpoena in advance of its 25
issuance. The application may be made in Thurston county, the county 26
where the subpoenaed person resides or is found, or the county where 27
the subpoenaed documents, records, or evidence are located. The 28
application must: 29
(i) State that an order is sought under this section;30
(ii) Adequately specify the documents, records, evidence, or 31
testimony; and 32
(iii) Include a declaration made under oath that an investigation 33
is being conducted for a lawfully authorized purpose related to an 34
investigation within the commission's authority and that the 35
subpoenaed documents, records, evidence, or testimony are reasonably 36
related to an investigation within the commission's authority.37
(c) When an application under this section is made to the 38
satisfaction of the court, the court must issue an order approving 39
the subpoena. An order under this subsection constitutes authority of 40
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law for the agency to subpoena the documents, records, evidence, or 1
testimony. 2
(d) The commission may seek approval and a court may issue an 3
order under this section without prior notice to any person, 4
including the person to whom the subpoena is directed and the person 5
who is the subject of an investigation. An application for court 6
approval is subject to the fee and process set forth in RCW 7
36.18.012(3). 8
(4) The Washington state religious liberty commission may adopt 9
rules and regulations pursuant to chapter 34.05 RCW as necessary to 10
implement the purpose of this chapter. 11
NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. Nothing in sections 5 and 6 of this act 12
preclude the right of any person to institute any action or pursue 13
any civil or criminal remedy before a court of competent 14
jurisdiction.15
NEW SECTION. Sec. 11. Sections 1 through 6, 9, and 10 of this 16
act constitute a new chapter in Title 43 RCW.17
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