ENGROSSED SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5436
State of Washington
69th Legislature
2025 Regular Session
By Senate Law & Justice (originally sponsored by Senators Salomon, Valdez, Wellman, Braun, Chapman, Cortes, Dhingra, Hasegawa, Orwall, Saldaña, and Schoesler)
READ FIRST TIME 02/14/25.
AN ACT Relating to interfering with access to a place of religious worship; adding a new chapter to Title 9A RCW; and prescribing penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that access to places of worship is imperative to the free exercise of religion in the state of Washington and that impaired access to places of worship raises substantial concerns regarding public safety and congestion of public thoroughfares. Ensuring the safety and unobstructed access of individuals entering and exiting places of worship is therefore a compelling government interest and essential for the immediate preservation of public peace, health, and safety. Toward that end, this chapter is aimed at making unlawful conduct that would interfere with a person's lawful exercise of that person's religious freedom under the state Constitution and United States Constitution. The legislature further finds that the protection of such persons from such interference can be accomplished without infringing on constitutionally protected speech or activity and affirms that its intent is to not seek to favor one viewpoint over another or to limit speech regarding any specific topic.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.