Text of WA SB 6116 (2024)

AN ACT Relating to the organization of interscholastic athletics; 1 amending RCW 28A.600.200 and 28B.10.703; adding a new section to 2 chapter 28A.600 RCW; and adding a new section to chapter 28B.10 RCW. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON: 4 NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 28A.600 5 RCW to read as follows: 6 (1) Except as provided in subsection (5) of this section, 7 interschool athletic activities and other interschool extracurricular 8 activities of an athletic nature, including those administered by a 9 school district board of directors under RCW 28A.600.200, must be 10 organized using the following groupings for the purposes of 11 participation and competition: 12 (a) Students who have the same kind of sex chromosome (xx) who 13 identify as a woman or girl; 14 (b) Students who have the same kind of sex chromosome (xx) who 15 identify as a man or boy; 16 (c) Students who have two different kinds of sex chromosomes (xy) 17 who identify as a man or boy; 18 (d) Students who have two different kinds of sex chromosomes (xy) 19 who identify as a woman or girl; and 20 S-3886.1 SENATE BILL 6116 State of Washington 68th Legislature 2024 Regular Session By Senator Fortunato p. 1 SB 6116 (e) Students who do not meet the criteria in (a) through (d) of 1 this subsection. 2 (2) For the purposes of this section, a student's eligibility for 3 a particular grouping may be determined by any medical documentation 4 that demonstrates the chromosomal makeup of the student. 5 (3)(a) Any student who is deprived of an athletic opportunity or 6 suffers any direct or indirect harm as a result of a violation of 7 this section has a private cause of action for injunctive relief, 8 damages, and any other relief available under law against the school 9 district. 10 (b) Any student who is subject to retaliation or other adverse 11 action by a school, school district, or an athletic association or 12 organization as a result of reporting a violation of this section to 13 an employee or a representative of the school, school district, or 14 athletic association or organization, or to any state or federal 15 agency with oversight of schools or public postsecondary institutions 16 in this state, has a private cause of action for injunctive relief, 17 damages, and any other relief available under law against the school, 18 school district, or athletic association or organization. 19 (c) Any school district that suffers any direct or indirect harm 20 as a result of a violation of this section has a private cause of 21 action for injunctive relief, damages, and any other relief available 22 under law against the governmental entity, licensing or accrediting 23 organization, or athletic association or organization. 24 (d) A school district or a student of a school district that 25 suffers any direct or indirect harm as a result of a public or 26 private school, a school district, or other organization not 27 structuring their athletics in alignment with this section has a 28 private cause of action for injunctive relief, damages, and any other 29 relief available under law against the school, school district, or 30 other organization. 31 (e) A civil action brought under this section must be initiated 32 within two years after the alleged harm occurred. Students or school 33 districts who prevail on a claim brought under this section are 34 entitled to monetary damages, including for any psychological, 35 emotional, or physical harm suffered, reasonable attorneys' fees and 36 costs, and any other appropriate relief. 37 (4) A governmental entity, licensing or accrediting organization, 38 or an athletic association may not entertain a complaint, open an 39 investigation, or take any other adverse action against any school 40 p. 2 SB 6116 district in this state for maintaining separate interscholastic 1 athletic teams or sports for students based on the designations 2 required under this section. 3 (5) The requirements of this section do not apply to interschool 4 athletic activities and other interschool extracurricular activities 5 of an athletic nature that consist primarily of students in grades 6 kindergarten through six. 7 Sec. 2. RCW 28A.600.200 and 2012 c 155 s 2 are each amended to 8 read as follows: 9 Each school district board of directors is hereby granted and 10 shall exercise the authority to control, supervise and regulate the 11 conduct of interschool athletic activities and other interschool 12 extracurricular activities of an athletic, cultural, social or 13 recreational nature for students of the district, subject to the 14 requirements provided in section 1 of this act. A board of directors 15 may delegate control, supervision and regulation of any such activity 16 to the Washington interscholastic activities association or any other 17 voluntary nonprofit entity and compensate such entity for services 18 provided, subject to the following conditions: 19 (1) The voluntary nonprofit entity shall not discriminate in 20 connection with employment or membership upon its governing board, or 21 otherwise in connection with any function it performs, on the basis 22 of race, creed, national origin, sex or marital status((,)). 23 (2)(a) Any rules and policies adopted and applied by the 24 voluntary nonprofit entity that governs student participation in any 25 interschool activity shall be written; and 26 (b) Such rules and policies shall provide for notice of the 27 reasons and a fair opportunity to contest such reasons prior to a 28 final determination to reject a student's request to participate in 29 or to continue in an interschool activity. 30 (3)(a) The association or other voluntary nonprofit entity is 31 authorized to impose penalties for rules violations upon coaches, 32 school district administrators, school administrators, and students, 33 as appropriate, to punish the offending party or parties; 34 (b) No penalty may be imposed on a student or students unless the 35 student or students knowingly violated the rules or unless a student 36 gained a significant competitive advantage or materially 37 disadvantaged another student through a rule violation; 38 p. 3 SB 6116 (c) Any penalty that is imposed for rules violations must be 1 proportional to the offense; 2 (d) Any decision resulting in a penalty shall be considered a 3 decision of the school district conducting the activity in which the 4 student seeks to participate or was participating and may be appealed 5 pursuant to RCW 28A.600.205 and 28A.645.010 through 28A.645.030. 6 (4) The school districts, Washington interscholastic activities 7 association districts, and leagues that participate in the 8 interschool extracurricular activities shall not impose more severe 9 penalties for rule violations than can be imposed by the rules of the 10 association or the voluntary nonprofit entity. 11 (5) As used in this section and RCW 28A.600.205, "knowingly" 12 means having actual knowledge of or acting with deliberate ignorance 13 or reckless disregard for the prohibition involved. 14 NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 28B.10 15 RCW to read as follows: 16 (1) Interscholastic, intercollegiate, intramural, or club 17 athletic activities and other interschool extracurricular activities 18 of an athletic nature sponsored by an institution of higher 19 education, including those established under the authority granted by 20 RCW 28B.10.703, must be organized using the following groupings for 21 the purposes of participation and competition: 22 (a) Students who have the same kind of sex chromosome (xx) who 23 identify as a woman or girl; 24 (b) Students who have the same kind of sex chromosome (xx) who 25 identify as a man or boy; 26 (c) Students who have two different kinds of sex chromosomes (xy) 27 who identify as a man or boy; 28 (d) Students who have two different kinds of sex chromosomes (xy) 29 who identify as a woman or girl; and 30 (e) Students who do not meet the criteria in (a) through (d) of 31 this subsection. 32 (2) For the purposes of this section, a student's eligibility for 33 a particular grouping may be determined by any medical documentation 34 that demonstrates the chromosomal makeup of the student. 35 (3)(a) Any student who is deprived of an athletic opportunity or 36 suffers any direct or indirect harm as a result of a violation of 37 this section has a private cause of action for injunctive relief, 38 p. 4 SB 6116 damages, and any other relief available under law against the 1 institution of higher education. 2 (b) Any student who is subject to retaliation or other adverse 3 action by an institution of higher education or an athletic 4 association or organization as a result of reporting a violation of 5 this section to an employee or a representative of the school, school 6 district, or athletic association or organization, or to any state or 7 federal agency with oversight of schools or institutions of higher 8 education in this state, has a private cause of action for injunctive 9 relief, damages, and any other relief available under law against the 10 institution of higher education or athletic association or 11 organization. 12 (c) Any institution of higher education that suffers any direct 13 or indirect harm as a result of a violation of this section has a 14 private cause of action for injunctive relief, damages, and any other 15 relief available under law against the governmental entity, licensing 16 or accrediting organization, or athletic association or organization. 17 (d) An institution of higher education or a student of an 18 institution of higher education that suffers any direct or indirect 19 harm as a result of a public or private postsecondary institution or 20 other organization not structuring their athletics in alignment with 21 this section has a private cause of action for injunctive relief, 22 damages, and any other relief available under law against the 23 postsecondary institution or other organization. 24 (e) A civil action brought under this section must be initiated 25 within two years after the alleged harm occurred. Students or 26 institutions of higher education who prevail on a claim brought under 27 this section are entitled to monetary damages, including for any 28 psychological, emotional, or physical harm suffered, reasonable 29 attorneys' fees and costs, and any other appropriate relief. 30 (4) A governmental entity, licensing or accrediting organization, 31 or an athletic association may not entertain a complaint, open an 32 investigation, or take any other adverse action against any 33 institution of higher education in this state for maintaining 34 separate interscholastic, intercollegiate, intramural, or club 35 athletic teams or sports for students based on the designations 36 required under this section. 37 Sec. 4. RCW 28B.10.703 and 1977 ex.s. c 169 s 32 are each 38 amended to read as follows: 39 p. 5 SB 6116 The governing boards of each of the state universities, the 1 regional universities, The Evergreen State College, and community 2 colleges in addition to their other duties prescribed by law shall 3 have the power and authority to establish programs for 4 intercollegiate athletic competition. Such competition may include 5 participation as a member of an athletic conference or conferences, 6 in accordance with conference rules. Programs created under this 7 section are subject to the requirements provided in section 3 of this 8 act. 9 --- END --- p. 6 SB 6116