Committee OKs Adjusted Civil Rights Bill
Long says the Senate has also approved legislation "modernizing" funding for high school Career and Technical Education courses.
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowAn amended version of a bill designed to expand Indiana’s civil rights laws is heading to the Senate floor. Senate Bill 344 would add civil rights protections for sexual orientation and active-duty military status. It includes several exemptions for religiously-affiliated groups, businesses and organizations. It also calls for a study committee on gender identity issues.
Senator Travis Holdman (R-19), who authored the bill along with Brant Hershman (R-7), says the measure is a "good-faith effort" to balance religious liberty with protections for gay and lesbian Hoosiers. "We all know this is a contentious issue, but I believe it’s one the General Assembly must address and I look forward to continuing the discussion in the days ahead," said Holdman.
It cleared the Senate Committee on Rules and Legislative Procedure 7-5 Wednesday in the Senate Chamber.
Opponents of the bill say it doesn’t go far enough. Freedom Indiana is a statewide interest group pushing for protections for gay and transgender people. Campaign Manager Chris Paulsen says a "bad bill" was made worse. "As amended, it repeals the Indiana Religious Freedom Act but replaces it with substandard protections that omit transgender people entirely and provide religious carveouts that undermine the very purpose of the civil rights law," said Paulsen.
The Indiana Senate Republicans outlined features of the amended bill, including:
- Adds sexual orientation, active duty military status and veteran status as protected classes in Indiana’s civil rights laws for employment, housing, and public accommodations.
- Calls for a legislative study committee to examine the topic of discrimination based on gender identity.
- Provides exemptions to the sexual orientation provisions for clergy, religious organizations, and small businesses of five or fewer employees engaged in marriage-related activities (same as current employer exemption in Indiana civil rights law).
- Replaces Indiana’s RFRA law by codifying the existing “material burden” standard of judicial review established by the Indiana Supreme Court for claims involving Hoosiers’ state constitutional rights to freedom of speech, thought, conscience, religion, the press, and assembly. This would return Indiana to the same legal standard for these core constitutional rights that existed before RFRA was enacted last year.
- Prohibits government entities from taking discriminatory action against clergy or religious organizations based on actions taken in accordance with their religious beliefs regarding marriage.
- Mirrors federal law in allowing religious-affiliated state contractors to limit their hiring to people who follow the organization’s teachings.
- Prohibits government entities from denying any license, including a marriage license, to a person based on their lawful activities related to marriage or sexual orientation.
- Maintains all local civil rights ordinances as they existed on Dec. 31, 2015. Prohibits new local ordinances from differing with state law regarding what classes are covered and what penalties can be levied.
Senate Bill 100, a similar bill that was also debated by the committee, will not make it to the full Senate. Senate Minority Leader Tim Lanane (D-25), who is a member of the committee, introduced a failed amendment that would have taken a "four words and a comma" approach. He and other Democrats are pushing for "gender identity, sexual orientation" to be written into the state’s Civil Rights law.
The legislation has a long way to go in the short session of the General Assembly, which is set to wrap up by March 14.
During testimony Wednesday night at the Statehouse, Indiana Chamber President Kevin Brinegar pushed for language adding protecting sexual orientation and gender identity. He says it’s about economic development.
A flower shop owner from Washington, Barronelle Stutzman, argued for additional safeguards in the law for religious liberty, saying laws in her state have negatively affected her based on her beliefs.
During testimony last night at the Statehouse, Indiana Chamber President Kevin Brinegar pushed for language protecting sexual orientation and gender identity. He says it’s about economic development.
A flower shop owner from Washington state, Barronelle Stutzman, argued for additional safeguards in the law for religious liberty, saying laws in her state have negatively affected her based on her beliefs.