UPDATE: Inside WA’s $2M "Bias" Hotline: Will Trump Defund This Assault On Free Speech?

When Will You Be Put On "The List?"

Just two days ago I published an article (SEE LINK BELOW) about Washington State’s new “Bias Hotline” pilot program that launched on July 1st in three counties: King, Clark, and Spokane. It will go statewide on January 1, 2027. The Left is no longer pretending that they believe in the First Amendment. They want to control every word you utter, and every thought you have. This is a massive red flag for anyone who values free speech and constitutional rights and an issue that, if left unaddressed, will have major consequences for Americans in the years to come.

This unconstitutional hotline is funded mostly by Biden’s US Department of Justice, with $1.125 million in federal grants flowing into Washington State to build this surveillance-style reporting tool. With $743,000 coming from the state’s general fund, they are using nearly $2 million, just for the pilot phase.

This program encourages victimhood and elevates emotion & feelings over objective law. And most dangerously, it blurs the line between criminal behavior and protected speech. It’s a tool which will be used to silence Christians, Conservatives, Republicans, punish religious convictions and criminalize mere disagreements. The hotline will NOT be accepting reports from Christians, even if they are members of a “protected class,” wherein someone made fun of their religious beliefs. This statute specifically targets people who are perceived to be on “The Right” and creates victims who are perceived to be on “The Left.”

“THE LIST:” MASSIVE CENSORSHIP SCHEME

The goal of this hotline is to collect “bias incident” reports. Not actual crimes. Not violence. But perceived hostility, (non-existent) microaggressions, and offensive language which hurt someone’s feelings or insults him/her, even if no law is broken. If you tease someone for his/her cultural practices or question gender ideology, even unknowingly or accidentally, you could be reported by a person who is in the newly created “protected class” who overheard you. You will be put on “The List” and may never know until, perhaps, you are denied a government benefit, such as food stamps or Section 8 housing. This law provides NO process by which you can get off “The List.”

All but two states (Wyoming and South Carolina) have some form of hate crime law, but it is unclear how many states have a similar “bias incident” statute that allows for the collection of data about hurt feelings. Under the Biden Regime, the DOJ actively pushed this agenda nationwide with millions in grants to states like Marxist Washington. This is not about public safety. It is about creating a culture of fear and self-censorship.

According to the Attorney General’s office, you could be reported for (the words in bold are from the website, while the other words are mine):

• Using “insulting” or “unfriendly” language in the presence of a “protected person” even if you were not referring to him/her.

• Questioning someone’s immigration status: Asking a person with an accent where they were born will put you on “The List” if that person is an immature, hate-filled jackass.

• Making jokes or criticism about someone’s “perceived” identity: Can this new law get any vaguer? THAT is on purpose so we are afraid to talk to each other.

• Mocking someone’s disability or cultural norm. The State is turning a polite remark or question into “mocking.”

• Saying “go back where you came from.” This may be rude, but it is not illegal.

• Creating racist or insulting images or drawings based on someone’s perceived characteristics or protected class, even if YOU did not consider these to be racist or insulting.

The hotline website boasts “access to interpretation in over 240 languages.” As you can see from just these six examples drafted by the attorney general’s office, they have focused this hotline on encouraging illegal aliens to torment American citizens. “Bias” reports do not have to rise to the level of an actual crime. Besides destroying free speech and terrorizing Americans who are not in a “protected class,” this mostly subjective whining will be recorded, documented, and used to shape future legislation to kill even more parts of our precious Bill of Rights.

The complaints will be reviewed not by neutral parties, but by people who share the “lived experience” of the alleged victim. In other words, ideologically aligned adjudicators are determining what’s punishable speech. As a Conservative, I have over 30 years of “lived experiences” I could share; BUT, the State does not care how many times I have been insulted, criticized, demeaned for my beliefs.

This isn’t just a Washington problem. Oregon and California each started their hotlines in 2020, just in time for the 2020 BLM/Antifa riots which killed 25-35 people, half of whom were black. This is how The Left works: use federal dollars to create state-level infrastructure, then weaponize it culturally and politically to terrorize Christians, Conservatives, Republicans, et al. It will be interesting how many “my neighbor has a Trump flag” reports they receive. Ha!

WILL TRUMP DEFUND THIS ?

Will the Trump Administration do anything to change this? The money Washington State has already received and used to set up this hotline is likely lost forever; but, will Trump 47 cut off future funding? These types of laws encourage people to target their neighbors, co-workers, strangers, who have different beliefs and values. It allows people to be targeted and punished for saying facts like: “there are only two sexes” or “Biden’s newcomers are overwhelming local healthcare systems.” It allows people to be punished for their political and religious beliefs. There is no end to where this can go. The Left is effectively setting up a snitch line to nark on Americans because some immature person got his/her feelings hurt. By the way, the statute does not exclude members of the press from winding up on “The List” because someone didn’t like an article he/she wrote.