HB 1902 — An Act amending Titles 18 (Crimes and Offenses), 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) and 53 (Municipalities Generally) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in assault, further providing for the offense of ethnic intimidation; in particular rights and immunities, further providing for civil rights violations; and, in employees, further providing for definitions and providing for annual officer training on hate-based intimidation.

PRIOR PRINTER'S NO.

2371 THEPRINTER'S GENERALNO. ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA HOUSE BILL Session of No.

3032 THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA HOUSE BILL Session of No.

NELSON, BENHAM, HILL-EVANS, WAXMAN, PIELLI, HOHENSTEIN, DONAHUE, PROBST, RIVERA, MALAGARI, SANCHEZ, HADDOCK, BOROWSKI, SHUSTERMAN, CEPEDA-FREYTIZ, SCHLOSSBERG, INGLIS, TAKAC, HANBIDGEHANBIDGE, STEELE, MADDEN, BRENNAN, ABNEY AND STEELE,DALEY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2025 REFERREDAS TOREPORTED FROM COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY, SEPTEMBERHOUSE 30,OF 2025REPRESENTATIVES, AS AMENDED, MARCH 19, 2026 AN ACT Amending Titles 18 (Crimes and Offenses), 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) and 53 (Municipalities Generally) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in assault, further providing for the offense of ethnic intimidation;

inherin particular rights and immunities, further providing for civil rightsdefinitions violations;and providing for annual officer training onfor hate-based intimidation.

and, in employees, further providing for definitions and providing for annual officer training on hate-based intimidation.

* * * (b.1) Construction.--Nothing in this section may be <-- construed to prohibit, limit or punish religiously motivated speech or conduct that is otherwise protected by the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of Pennsylvania or the act of December 9, 2002 (P.L.1701, No.214), known as the Religious Freedom Protection Act.

(c)SHALL Definition.--AsBE used<-- inCONSTRUED thisTO sectionPROHIBIT, "maliciousLIMIT intention"OR meansOTHERWISE thePUNISH intentionA toPERSON commitIN anyTHE act,FREE theEXERCISE commissionOR ofENJOYMENT whichOF isA aRIGHT necessaryOR elementPRIVILEGE ofSECURED anyTO offenseTHE referredPERSON toBY inTHE subsectionCONSTITUTION (a)OR motivatedLAWS byOF hatredTHE towardUNITED theSTATES race,OR color,THE religionCONSTITUTION [or],OF nationalPENNSYLVANIA origin,OR ethnicity,LAWS ancestry,OF sex,THIS gender,COMMONWEALTH. gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation or disability of another individual or group of individuals.

(c) Definition.--As used in this section "malicious intention" means the intention to commit any act, the commission of which is a necessary element of any offense referred to in subsection (a) motivated by hatred toward the race, color, 20250HB1902PN3032 - 2 - religion [or], national origin, ethnicity, ancestry, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation or disability of another individual or group of individuals.

Section 8309(a) of Title 42 is amended and the 20250HB1902PN2371 - 2 - section is amended by adding a subsection to read:

20250HB1902PN3032 - 3 - * * * (g) Construction.--Nothing in this section may be construed <-- to prohibit, limit or punish religiously motivated speech or conduct that is otherwise protected by the Constitution of the 20250HB1902PN2371 - 3 - United States, the Constitution of Pennsylvania or the act of December 9, 2002 (P.L.1701, No.214), known as the Religious Freedom Protection Act.

SHALL BE CONSTRUED TO PROHIBIT, LIMIT OR <-- OTHERWISE PUNISH A PERSON IN THE FREE EXERCISE OR ENJOYMENT OF A RIGHT OR PRIVILEGE SECURED TO THE PERSON BY THE CONSTITUTION OR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OR THE CONSTITUTION OF PENNSYLVANIA OR LAWS OF THIS COMMONWEALTH.

After the consultation, the commission and the Pennsylvania State Police shall, in consultation with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission 20250HB1902PN3032 - 4 - and the Attorney General, develop, implement and provide annual training on hate-based intimidation to officers.

(5) Any instruction deemed necessary in recognizing 20250HB1902PN2371 - 4 - enforcement-related bias.

20250HB1902PN3032 - 5 - (5) Probation and parole officers.

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