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SB5486 • 2026
Concerning open motion picture captioning in motion picture theaters.
This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.
Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.
Motion picture captioning
These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.
0 • Civil Rights & Judiciary
Plain English: 5486-S.E AMH CRJ H2089.1 ESSB 5486 - H COMM AMD By Committee on Civil Rights & Judiciary ADOPTED 04/10/2025 Strike everything after the enacting clause and insert the 1 following: 2 "NEW SECTION.
127 • Orwall
Plain English: 5486-S AMS ORWA S2148.1 SSB 5486 - S AMD 127 By Senator Orwall ADOPTED 03/11/2025 Beginning on page 2, line 37, strike all of subsections (9) and 1 (10)2 Renumber the remaining subsections consecutively and correct any 3 internal references accordingly.
137 • Torres
Plain English: 5486-S AMS TORR S2192.1 SSB 5486 - S AMD 137 By Senator Torres WITHDRAWN 03/11/2025 On page 2, line 13, after "within" strike "five" and insert 1 "eight" 2 EFFECT: A motion picture theater with five or fewer screens must provide an open captioning screening within eight calendar days after receiving a request, instead of within five days.
170 • Torres
Plain English: 5486-S AMS TORR S2250.1 SSB 5486 - S AMD 170 By Senator Torres WITHDRAWN 03/11/2025 On page 3, line 13, after "apply to" strike "drive-in theaters" 1 and insert ": (a) Drive-in theaters; or (b) motion picture theater 2 companies that operate less than five motion picture theater 3 locations statewide" 4 EFFECT: Exempts theater companies with less than five locations statewide.
208 • Torres
Plain English: 5486-S AMS TORR S2267.1 SSB 5486 - S AMD 208 By Senator Torres ADOPTED 03/11/2025 On page 1, beginning on line 14, after "theaters," strike all 1 material through "below:" on line 20 and insert "a motion picture 2 theater company that controls, operates, owns, or leases five or more 3 motion picture theaters in the state shall provide open captioning 4 screenings of such motion picture that has at least five scheduled 5 screenings at that theater, provided that the theater has digital 6 projection systems that support open captioning files.
1st substitute bill substituted.
Motion picture captioning
AN ACT Relating to open motion picture captioning in motion 1 picture theaters; adding a new section to chapter 49.60 RCW; 2 prescribing penalties; and providing an effective date.3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4 NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 49.60 5 RCW to read as follows: 6 (1) A place of public accommodation that is a motion picture 7 theater shall provide access to fully operational and well–maintained 8 closed motion picture captioning technology for the general public 9 for each screening of a motion picture that is produced and available 10 with closed motion picture captioning as required by Title III of the 11 federal Americans with disabilities act. 12 (2) A place of public accommodation that controls, operates, 13 owns, or leases a motion picture theater with six or more screens in 14 the state shall, for each motion picture it screens that is produced 15 and available with open captioning, provide open captioning for at 16 least two screenings of the motion picture within each of the first 17 two weeks of the motion picture's release. 18 (a) At least one open-captioned screening must take place during 19 peak weekend hours. For purposes of this subsection (2)(a), "peak 20 S-0795.1 SENATE BILL 5486 State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session By Senators Orwall, Dhingra, Nobles, and Trudeau Read first time 01/24/25. Referred to Committee on Law & Justice. p. 1 SB 5486 weekend hours" means between 5:59 p.m. and 11:01 p.m. on Fridays or 1 between 10:59 a.m. and 11:01 p.m. on Saturdays or Sundays.2 (b) After the first two weeks of a motion picture's release, at 3 least one weekly screening must be open-captioned and screened during 4 peak hours. For purposes of this subsection (2)(b), "peak hours" 5 means between 5:59 p.m. and 10:01 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays, 6 Wednesdays, or Thursdays; between 5:59 p.m. and 11:01 p.m. on 7 Fridays; or between 10:59 a.m. and 11:01 p.m. on Saturdays or 8 Sundays. 9 (3) A motion picture theater with five or fewer screens must:10 (a) Provide an open-captioned screening within 72 hours after 11 receiving a request; or 12 (b) Offer open captioning consistent with the requirements for 13 theaters with six or more screens. 14 (4) Motion picture theaters shall provide contact information on 15 their websites for the purposes of fulfilling requests for open-16 captioned screenings. 17 (5) A screening of a motion picture with open captioning that 18 overlaps with another screening of a motion picture with open 19 captioning may not be counted toward the minimum number of screenings 20 required by this section, except where it is not practicable to avoid 21 such overlap. 22 (6) A motion picture theater shall advertise the date and time of 23 open-captioned screenings required by this section in the same manner 24 as the motion picture theater advertises all other motion picture 25 screenings and indicate which screenings will include open 26 captioning. 27 (7) A motion picture theater shall maintain documents sufficient 28 to demonstrate compliance with the requirements of this section for a 29 period of at least one year. 30 (8) A motion picture theater that fails to comply with the 31 requirements of this section is subject to a civil fine of up to $100 32 for each violation. Written notice of the violation must be provided 33 to the motion picture theater and must state that the fine will be 34 assessed. The notice must also state that the motion picture theater 35 may cure the violation by complying with the requirement within 30 36 days after delivery of the notice. If the motion picture theater 37 demonstrates compliance within the 30-day period, the fine may not be 38 assessed and the violation must be dismissed. Any subsequent 39 violation results in a civil fine of up to $500. 40 p. 2 SB 5486 (9) The human rights commission must prepare an educational 1 pamphlet advising motion picture theaters of their duty and liability 2 under this section. The pamphlet must clarify the differences between 3 closed captioning and open captioning and how motion picture theaters 4 should advertise open-captioned screenings. The pamphlet should be 5 made available online. 6 (10) For purposes of this section: 7 (a) "Closed captioning" means a transcript or dialogue of the 8 audio portion of a motion picture that is displayed on either the 9 bottom or top portion of a motion picture screen. 10 (b) "Motion picture theater" means an establishment in which 11 feature motion pictures are regularly exhibited to the public for an 12 admission charge. 13 (c) "Open captioning" means the written, on-screen display of a 14 motion picture's dialogue and nonspeech information, which may 15 include music, the identity of the character speaking, or other 16 sounds and sound effects. 17 NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. This act takes effect January 1, 2026.18 --- END --- p. 3 SB 5486