Bill Text: WV SCR2 | 2026 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Supporting practices of freedom of religion in public spaces
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 10)
Status: (Introduced) 2026-01-20 - To Judiciary [SCR2 Detail]
Download: West_Virginia-2026-SCR2-Introduced.html
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 2
(By Senators Rucker, Azinger, Helton, M. Maynard, Roberts, and Rose)
[Introduced January 19, 2026]
Supporting and encouraging practices that exemplify religious freedom in public spaces.
Whereas, The Declaration of Independence states, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men. . . "; and
Whereas, Religious freedom is a foundational principle of democratic society and a fundamental human right recognized by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution; and
Whereas, In Thomas Jefferson's description of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom of 1786, he established that religious freedom was meant to comprehend, within the mantle of its protection, [Americans] of every denomination; and
Whereas, In a 1790 letter to a Jewish congregation in Newport, Rhode Island, George Washington wrote that the new nation he was helping build would give "to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance," and that "everyone shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree and there shall be none to make him afraid’; and
Whereas, Benjamin Franklin's creed, contained in his 1790 letter to Ezra Stiles, states that "God [is the] creator of the universe. That He governs it by his Providence. That He ought to be worshiped"; and
Whereas, John Adams taught "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious People. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other"; and
Whereas, The New England Primer, first published in 1690, and utilized across four centuries, included the Ten Commandments and other theological teachings to instruct children to read and write; and
Whereas, The West Virginia Constitution, Article III, Section 15, declares that "[n]o man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place or ministry whatsoever; nor shall any man be enforced, restrained, molested or burthened, in his body or goods, or otherwise suffer, on account of his religious opinions or belief, but all men shall be free to profess and by argument, to maintain their opinions in matters of religion; and the same shall, in nowise, affect, diminish or enlarge their civil capacities"; and
Whereas, In 1971, the Supreme Court in Lemon v. Kurtzman created the "Lemon Test" that included a requirement of a secular legislative purpose, resulting in that case being cited over 7,000 times in subsequent federal cases between the years 1971 and 2019; and
Whereas, In 2022, the Supreme Court overturned the "Lemon Test" in Shurtleff v. Boston declaring that the Lemon decision was "issued during a bygone era when this court took a more freewheeling approach to interpreting legal texts. . . "; and
Whereas, In 2019, the Supreme Court declared in American Legion v. American Humanist Association that longstanding religiously expressive monuments, symbols, and practices require a strong presumption of constitutionality; and
Whereas, In 2022, the Supreme Court declared in Kennedy v. Bremerton that "The [free exercise] clause protects not only the right to harbor religious beliefs inwardly and secretly. It does perhaps its most important work by protecting the ability of those who hold religious beliefs of all kinds to live out their faiths in daily life through the performance of (or abstention from) physical acts"; therefore, be it
Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Legislature hereby supports and encourages practices that exemplify religious freedom in public spaces; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Legislature supports the right of public school students and teachers to openly express their faith, accommodation of religious observances in government and community settings, the protection of religious symbols in public spaces, and the fostering of respectful dialogue among diverse faith traditions to uphold the foundational principles of religious liberty enshrined in the United States Constitution; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Legislature supports protecting religious freedom and allowing individuals of all faiths to participate freely in public life.
