Georgia Senate passes ‘religious liberty’ bill

Several businesses file court brief in support of gay marriage, A14

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Several businesses file court brief in support of gay marriage, A14

“Religious liberty” legislation easily passed the Georgia Senate on Thursday, keeping the measure alive with only 13 days left in the legislative session.

The question now is whether the House, which has stalled similar legislation, wants anything to do with it.

Senate Bill 129 is one of two at the Capitol — the other is House Bill 218 — that supporters say would prevent government intrusion on faith-based beliefs. It is based on federal legislation that Congress passed in 1993 and carries President Bill Clinton's signature. It asserts that government has to show a compelling interest for why its policy should override an individual's religious freedom.

The proposal has been at the center of one of the fiercest debates at the Capitol this year, with supporters casting it as a new line of defense to protect people of any religion from interference. Opponents warn it’s a discriminatory end run on the First Amendment that could allow business owners to cite religious beliefs to deny people service.

Neither side gave much ground Thursday, although SB 129 is the first to free itself from the chamber it originated in. To ease passage, the Senate’s GOP majority voted to bar any proposed floor amendments during debate.

"It's a simple, modest, common-sense protection for people of every faith," said state Sen. Josh McKoon, R-Columbus, who sponsored SB 129 and has already had to change it based on concerns from some in his own party.

McKoon said the “professional left” had trumpeted “a parade of horrors” about the bill’s effects, including concerns over whether it would drive business away from Georgia and could have devastating consequences such as someone citing the law to refuse goods or services to someone who is gay.

Senators who supported the measure, however, said the changes McKoon agreed to should prevent discriminatory practices. The bill had stalled until earlier this week, when the Senate’s GOP leaders signed off on a compromise to make it hew to the federal language already on the books.

They also reworked a clause opponents believe would allow some businesses to use religious beliefs as a reason to deny services — something affirmed by the Supreme Court last year in the Hobby Lobby case, when it ruled family-owned corporations could mount religious objections to paying for female employees’ contraceptives under the national health care overhaul.

"This bill does not gut any protections" for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community such as those in the city of Atlanta, said Senate Majority Leader Bill Cowsert, R-Athens, who initially led the effort to table the bill in committee.

He also said it would not allow private businesses to use the law as a shield. “That case will never happen in Georgia,” he said.

Opponents weren't so sure. Sen. Elena Parent, D-Atlanta, suggested it was no coincidence conservatives have pushed for the bill as national debate rose over the legality of same-sex marriage. She and others said the intent behind the bill was a distraction and not necessary.

Groups including the Georgia Baptist Convention and the national Family Research Council have urged proponents to voice support for the legislation. In contrast, critics including former state Attorney General Mike Bowers and a statewide coalition of more than 200 clergy members — including Baptists, Catholics, Jews and Lutherans — have denounced what they called an unnecessary and discriminatory effort.

“It’s unnecessary in regard to religious freedom here in the state of Georgia,” the Rev. David Key, the director of the Baptist Studies Program at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology, said Thursday. “I do hope that the House and Governor (Nathan) Deal will put a stop to the bill, and I hope the good people of Georgia will ignore it.”

The issue also flared last year before failing to pass, as Georgia’s powerful business community, including heavyweights Coca-Cola, Delta Air Lines and Home Depot, spoke out against it. SB 129 passed the Senate on a 37-15 vote.