A special House subcommittee on Wednesday advanced an amended version of Georgia’s ‘religious liberty’ bill, giving it the clearest path yet to becoming law this year.
The Judiciary subcommittee took a back-door approach to its consideration of the bill, perhaps the most emotionally charged piece of legislation before lawmakers in years. When the panel first convened, committee Chairman Wendell Willard, R-Sandy Springs, passed out a new version of Senate Bill 129 that would have greatly weakened its impact.
Then, over objections from Democrats, the subcommittee spent the next nearly three hours strengthening it again and beating back an effort to ensure it would not legalize discrimination.
As the subcommittee voted down amendment after amendment to add protections for gay Georgians, it became clear that the concerns of the bill’s supporters would not come to pass. For days, vocal advocates of the bill hammered House Republicans, accusing them of working to kill the bill and imploring them to act decisively.
By 7:30 p.m Wednesday, the House — or at least this one subcommittee — acted.
The bill now goes to the full Judiciary Committee, which could vote on it Thursday. It could come to the full House floor as soon as Friday. But, even if it passes there — and it likely would — it would still need to return to the Senate, most likely no sooner than Tuesday, the 39th day of the 40 day legislative session.
Should the Senate disagree to the House changes, lawmakers would have little time to hammer out a compromise before legislators quit for the year. Lawmakers are set to adjourn April 2.
Under SB 129 as it passed the Senate, government would have to have a "compelling interest" to interfere with a person's religious beliefs. Sen. Josh McKoon, R-Columbus, the bill's sponsor, has argued it is necessary to protect religious Georgians from having the government force them to do something contrary to their beliefs, unless absolutely necessary.
McKoon has mentioned as examples a Georgia public school student who was denied the ability to organize a religious social club and a Savannah State University organization banned for holding a foot-washing ceremony.
McKoon said he was “pleased with what the subcommittee did (Wednesday). I feel like they definitely put their stamp on this bill but it retains the strict scrutiny test, which is the heart of the whole thing.”
But opponents say that the bill could be used by business owners to deny service to gay couples or otherwise legally discriminate against Georgians with whom they disagree.
Rep. Barry Fleming, R-Harlem, led the charge to add heft back into the bill after Rep. Stacey Evans, D-Smyrna, suggested an amendment that would replace the word "persons" to "individual." Fleming noted that would not, as an example, allow Christian-owned businesses to refuse to cover abortion services because the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the Hobby Lobby case that closely held corporations are considered "persons" and have protection under the federal religious liberty law.
“We strike ‘persons’ to say ‘individuals,’ we’re taking Hobby Lobby and other companies out,” Fleming said. “We’re doing away with what saved Hobby Lobby.”
The subcommittee defeated Evans’ amendment, with Willard breaking a 4-4 tie.
Another amendment re-strengthened the test government must undertake before interfering with someone’s religious beliefs. The original substitute changed “compelling interest” to “substantial interest,” which the bill’s supporters said would deeply weaken the bill.
But the subcommittee adopted an amendment returning the government’s test to “compelling.”
Meanwhile, the panel agreed to an amendment making it clear that the bill would not allow anyone to neglect or abuse a child and claim a religious exemption. But, at the same time, it killed an amendment that would have made it clear the bill would not allow “discrimination prohibited in any federal, state or local laws.”
University of Georgia constitutional scholar Anthony Kreis, an expert in LGBT law, said the decision to add the child abuse language but defeat the discrimination protection was nonsensical. The bill’s supporters have long said religious freedom laws would not protect child abusers, nor would it be used by Christians to discriminate against gays, lesbians or transgendered.
“We’re told RFRA can’t justify child abuse,” Kreis said on Twitter. “But we amend to reinforce that. We’re told RFRA can’t be used to discriminate. But..”
Kreis, who is gay, added: “I’ve never felt more like a second class citizen in my own home than I do right now.”
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