The bill amends RCW 9A.36.078 and 9A.36.080 to change the existing malicious harassment provisions by renaming the offense as a "hate crime offense," adding "political affiliation" to the list of protected characteristics, and defining a hate crime offense as maliciously and intentionally committing, in whole or in part because of the actor's perception of a protected characteristic, an assault, physical damage to or destruction of property, or a threat against a specific person or group such that a reasonable person in the victim's protected class would fear harm. The bill clarifies that words alone do not constitute a hate crime unless context indicates a threat, and that threatening words are not a hate crime if it is apparent to the victim the speaker cannot carry out the threat. The statute lists specific acts that allow the trier of fact to infer bias-motivated intent for evidentiary purposes (examples include cross burning, defacement with a Nazi emblem, or placing a noose on property) unless the evidence satisfies the trier of fact that the actor did not intend to threaten. The bill defines relevant terms, including "reasonable person" (as a reasonable person who is a member of the victim's protected class), "gender expression or identity," "sexual orientation," and "threat." Commission of a hate crime offense under this section is classified as a class C felony. The bill directs creation of a multidisciplinary working group to develop recommendations for best practices for identifying and responding to hate crimes, but the extracted text does not specify the working group’s membership, appointing authority, duties, timeline, or implementing agency. The extracted text also does not provide sentencing ranges or cross-references to the criminal sentencing statute, nor does it show how the terminology change will be applied elsewhere in law. The statute states that penalties under this section do not preclude victims from seeking other remedies and that it does not expand civil rights beyond existing federal or state constitutional and statutory rights. Dates noted: prefiled 12/04/25, first read 01/12/26, referred to the Committee on Law & Justice.

If enacted, this change makes it a class C felony for someone to commit an assault, damage property, or make a credible threat when at least part of the reason is the offender’s perception of a protected trait, and it explicitly adds political affiliation to the list of protected traits. Practically, prosecutors will have a clearer option to file felony hate-crime charges for bias-motivated assaults, property damage, or threatening behavior, and judges and juries can be instructed that certain acts (for example, cross burning, placing a noose, or defacing property with Nazi symbols) allow an inference of bias unless the defendant proves no intent to threaten; mere words alone won’t qualify unless the context makes them a believable threat. Victims who belong to the listed groups may see more cases handled as felonies, but this does not create new civil causes of action beyond existing law. The change will mainly affect prosecutors, courts, juries, and people targeted because of the listed traits, and could increase felony caseloads and prosecutorial discretion. A multidisciplinary working group is required to recommend best practices, but the bill text provided does not say who will sit on the group, who will run it, what it must produce, or by when, and it also does not state sentencing ranges or how the new name will be reconciled across other laws, so there is uncertainty about implementation details and any additional funding or training needs.