(The Center Square) – The Washington state House of Representatives has passed a Senate bill that would prohibit law enforcement officers from wearing facial coverings in public and on duty. The bill also creates a civil cause of action for private citizens detained by law enforcement wearing mask at the time of detention.
The bill has been a high priority for majority party Democrats in Olympia since the beginning of session, in response to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers operating on duty with facial masks.
In January, the Department of Homeland Security claimed that since President Donald Trump took office in January 2025, ICE officers had experienced a 1,300% increase in assaults, a 3,200% increase in vehicular attacks, and an 8,000% increase in death threats.
Prior to Tuesday’s 56-37 vote, Republican House members proposed numerous amendments, most of which were rejected by the chamber.
One that was accepted expanded the helmet exemption to the prohibition on law enforcement officers wearing facial coverings to include a “helmet used to protect the wearer’s head during transportation on a wheeled all-terrain vehicle, snowmobile, helicopter, or any vehicle for which a helmet may be used to protect the wearer’s head.”
Another successful amendment exempts a head or face covering worn for “religious purposes.”
Other amendments were more ideological than practical, including one that added an intent section acknowledging that a similar law enacted by the state of California is subject to a preliminary injunction.
The proposed intent section then declares, “Therefore, the legislature intends to further encumber Washington peace officers, who the legislature finds do not wear masks, in a feigned attempt to ‘do something’ about a superior level of government that the legislature is subservient to. The legislature apologizes to all Washington peace officers who have been unfairly slandered and demonized by politicians seeking to score political points and social media attention.”
The bill will now return to the Senate for concurrency.
