The following bill passed the House Labor & Industry Committee along party lines 14-12, on March 23, 2026. Video.
The Bill: HB64 (Rep Khan-D)
Title: Captive Audience Meeting Enforcement Fund; and imposing penalties.
Prohibiting the penalization of employees for nonparticipation in religious or political matters; providing for notice requirements.
What Does it Mean: It prohibits employers from penalizing, disciplining, discharging, threatening, or taking any adverse employment action against employees who refuse to attend or participate in employer-sponsored meetings or communications whose primary purpose is to communicate the employer’s opinion on religious or political matters.
Key provisions:
- Employers cannot require attendance or participation in such “captive audience” meetings/communications on religion or politics.
- Employers cannot retaliate against employees for declining to attend/participate,
- Employers must post a notice (in a form provided by the Department of Labor and Industry) informing employees of their rights under the act.
Who is exempt? The bill includes several explicit exemptions.
- Communications or meetings required by federal or state law.
- Voluntary meetings or communications
- Communications that are necessary for employees to perform their job duties.
- Institutions of higher education — meetings on coursework, symposia, research, publication, or academic programs.
- Public agencies, the General Assembly, or other governing bodies — when requiring attendance to communicate proposals or changes to public policy.
- Anti-discrimination training (including training on religious discrimination).
- Labor organizations! (Interesting)
Exact penalties
The bill provides both civil remedies for employees and administrative fines enforced by the Department of Labor and Industry (no criminal penalties are imposed):
- Employee civil lawsuit (private right of action) An employee may file suit in court within 1 year of the violation.
- Administrative fine (Dept of Labor and Industry) up to $2500 for the first offense.
Quotes:
RepAnderson(R), “Enforcement is subjective, is something political or not? Subjectivity of the bill is in question.”
RepFink(R), “Why do we exempt unions? Union members are required to support a Democrat candidate.”
RepGleim(R) “Why are higher education exempt, what about secondary and primary?”
RepJones(R) “I’ve never even heard of anyone calling a meeting to talk about religion.” What if your business is being affected by Trump tariffs and you bring that up?”
RepKinkead(D) “It’s about the discipline of those that don’t attend.”
RepKahn(D) “We are protecting the employee from retaliation.”
RepDawkins(D) “This Bill is about the discipline of the employee. You are creating a fantasy because you don’t want to vote on this bill.”
Conclusion:
Small businesses already face high taxes, heavy regulations, and labor shortages. We don’t need more rules that treat owners like villains for simply talking to their teams. Government should protect the freedom to thrive — not micromanage conversations in the workplace. Let’s focus on real solutions that reduce burdens, not increase them.
The Go Big Small Biz Network exists to prevent government overreach into small businesses. We are funded by our monthly subscribers of $19/monthly. Please Join the movement.
Any Questions? Email me, tracey@gobigsmallbiz.com
Thanks,
Tracey and Jeff Wakeen
