Thursday, April 2, 2015

Lesson Learned

It looks like somebody got the hint.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) has decided not to sign the religious freedom bill the Republican legislature sent to his desk a day earlier.

Instead, Hutchinson said at a press conference on Wednesday, he would send the bill back to the state legislature to amend it so it better reflects the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

Hutchinson’s move means that he’s not directly following the path of Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) who signed a controversial religious freedom bill in his state and has been the target of nationwide criticism by opponents of the new law who argue that it essentially allows businesses to discriminate against gay people.

“The bill that is on my desk at the present time does not mirror the federal law,” Hutchinson said. “It doesn’t mirror it in a couple of ways, particularly allowing the First Amendment to be asserted in the private litigation between parties or reliance on the state law in those claims. Therefore I asked that changes be made in the legislation and I’ve asked that the leaders in the General Assembly to recall the bill so that it can be amended to reflect the terms of the federal legislative Freedom and Restoration Act.”

The strong objection by Walmart, one of the largest employers in the state and based in Bentonville, might have something to do with it, too.

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