Michigan and Washington scored the most poorly in the nation for religious freedom protections, according to a new report.

Napa Legal Institute, a Catholic nonprofit organization, released the 2025 Faith and Freedom Index on Monday. The index scores laws across all 50 states and the District of Columbia based on religious liberty and religious freedom protections.

The index specifically measures “friendliness” to religious freedom and regulatory freedom for nonprofits that are not classified as churches or religious orders.

“This is mostly an advocacy and an educational tool to show you what is the lay of the land in each state,” said Frank Devito, senior counsel and director of content at Napa Legal.

Michigan is 51st on the list and Washington is 50th, making each “one of the worst places to operate a faith-based nonprofit,” according to Napa’s website.

Napa cites the states' Blaine Amendment as a reason for both of the states' low rankings. The Blaine Amendment prevents a state from using public funds to support religious organizations, including religious private or nonpublic schools.

Napa Legal also weighed whether a state passed its own religious freedom restoration act. This act would require courts to apply the highest level of judicial scrutiny in a case where an organization's or individual’s free exercise is threatened.

Devito said this mainly applies to making employment decisions in a religiously affiliated nonprofit, specifically related to religion, sex, sexual orientation and gender identity.

“The ideal is that you don't have to go to court and sue and see if you have a right to hire in accordance with your religious principles,” Devito said, “but if you have no other choice, there's no statutory protection against that employment law or public programming law, you at least can bring a challenge under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.”

The Rev. Tony Pillari, a Catholic priest, helps operate a school in Kansas where a statute allows schools to make hiring decisions aligned with faith, similar to RFRA. He said it is beneficial to have the statute so his school can define how their hiring and teaching practices will align with the Catholic faith.