Senate Panel Kills Religious Objections Proposal

It has driven a wedge between social conservatives and the business wing of the Republican Party, with the state’s business establishment pushing lawmakers to go further and adopt full civil rights protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

“Senate Bill 66 would have dealt a devastating blow to Indiana’s already damaged reputation”.

“Lawmakers, over the past few decades, have banned discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodation based on race, religion, color, sex, disability, national origin or ancestry”.

“These bills do not protect LGBT people from discrimination-instead, they intentionally legalize discrimination, and any senator who supports them is not helping LGBT Hoosiers”.

“Later this evening, the Senate Rules Committee will hear SB 100 and SB 344”.

They believe it would have rolled back protections against discrimination for the LGBT community. That would require the committee to vote approve the bill. A second LGBT rights bill was also introduced.

An Indiana Senate committee on Wednesday moved to repeal a religious objections law that drew widespread attention to the state last spring after critics said it would sanction discrimination against gay people. “The new proposal is the old RFRA all over again. Obviously it’s not – we didn’t move backwards”, Paulsen says.

“We need to create an environment that is welcoming and inclusive if we want other people to come here, whether that’s top talent we want to recruit and retain, or conventions”, said Jon Mills, a spokesman for diesel equipment manufacturer Cummins Inc. By stripping away the limited buffer put in place previous year, the legislators have made crystal clear their true intentions.

“Senate Bill 66 is RFRA on steroids”, said Freedom Indiana campaign manager Chris Paulsen.

State lawmakers begin the debate over civil rights protections for the LGBT community. Just when you thought lawmakers had learned a lesson from RFRA, a handful of them have chose to breathe life into a ‘Super RFRA’. While we are pleased to see this discriminatory bill died a well deserved death, it’s important to remember that LGBT Hoosiers and visitors are still not protected from discrimination throughout most of the state.

He noted people don’t understand the bill or “like to demagogue or fearmonger”.

An evangelical group says a report indicating IN lost $60 million IN tourism because of the uproar over a religious objections law obscures the fact that the economy is doing well. The fix, while imperfect, ensured that RFRA could not be used as a defense to a nondiscrimination claim. Members of the Indy Chamber were also not in support of SB 66. Senate Bill 344 also seeks to update Indiana’s civil rights law, but it unacceptably excludes any and all protections for transgender Hoosiers. “I’m protecting every one of your rights”.

Senate Bill 100 claims to update Indiana’s civil rights law, but would actually override existing municipal civil rights protections and write broad religious exemptions into law, among other serious problems.

House Bill 1399 would have required sales clerks to be 21 years old and receive training in order to sell alcohol on Sundays. They share the same authors in the Indiana Senate.

Freedom Indiana and Indiana Competes released a statement Wednesday concerning the bills.