Religious-principles bill passes in Senate

Proposal’s foes fear bias against gays

State Sen. David Sanders signals his yes vote Friday on a bill presented by Sen. Bart Hester (right) that limits enforcement of laws that conflict with a person’s sincerely held religious beliefs. It passed easily.
State Sen. David Sanders signals his yes vote Friday on a bill presented by Sen. Bart Hester (right) that limits enforcement of laws that conflict with a person’s sincerely held religious beliefs. It passed easily.

A bill dubbed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act breezed through the Arkansas Senate on Friday over the objections of opponents who warned that it would lead to discrimination against gays and hurt efforts to attract high-tech industry to Arkansas.

In a 24-7 vote after a nine-minute debate, the Senate approved House Bill 1228 by Rep. Bob Ballinger, R-Hindsville. It now goes to the House so representatives can sign off on the amended version.

Two senators who supported the bill in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, enabling it to pass 5-3, switched their votes once it reached the full Senate.

If approved, Arkansas wouldn't be allowed to "substantially burden a person's right to exercise of religion" unless doing so is necessary "to further a compelling state interest." Even in those cases, the state restriction would be allowed only if it is "the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental interest."

Those with no "sincerely held" religious objections would still be required to follow the government mandate.

People who successfully challenge a law on religious grounds could obtain "appropriate relief," including damages, court costs and attorneys' fees.

The bill would exempt jails, prisons, the state Department of Correction and the state Department of Community Correction.

Twenty Republicans and four Democrats voted for the bill. Six Democrats and a Republican voted against it.

The legislation quotes the Arkansas Constitution: "No human authority can, in any case or manner whatsoever, control or interfere with the right of conscience."

Supporters say there are recent cases where Americans have been punished because of their religious convictions.

Bakers in Colorado and Oregon, for example, have been sued because they refused to sell wedding cakes to gay couples.

Senate President Pro Tempore Jonathan Dismang, R-Searcy, said he voted for the bill because "it was a decision based on my moral beliefs."

"I agree that an individual business owner has that right to believe and the right to conduct their businesses in a way that doesn't conflict with their religious beliefs," he said.

After the Senate's passage of the bill, Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook tweeted, "Apple is open for everyone. We are deeply disappointed in Indiana's new law and calling on Arkansas Gov. to veto the similar #HB1228.

"Around the world, we strive to treat every customer the same -- regardless of where they come from, how they worship or who they love."

Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican, reiterated Friday that "I will sign this bill as amended.

"This bill is designed to protect the religious freedoms of all Arkansans. It's no different than legislation that has passed in 20 other states, from Illinois to Connecticut," the governor said in a written statement.

"Arkansas is open for business, and we recognize and respect the diversity of our culture and economy," he said.

The two senators who switched positions on the legislation this week explained their decisions after the vote.

"I just voted it out of committee, and when I listened to the debate, I realized that I probably shouldn't have done it," said state Sen. David Burnett, D-Osceola, an attorney who is a former prosecutor and former circuit judge. "I didn't think it was a good bill. I thought it was unconstitutional. ... I changed my mind."

Burnett said he didn't have "any original reasons" for voting for the bill in the committee but noted that a key elected official had asked for help advancing the legislation.

He said the governor "just asked me four or five weeks ago to support that bill and that was it. There wasn't getting anything out of it."

Burnett said he had asked Hutchinson to appoint Jo Ann Henton to the Mississippi County Quorum Court, "but that had nothing to do with my vote on [HB]1228, nothing whatsoever. There was no promise. No quid pro quo."

Hutchinson spokesman J.R. Davis said the governor met with Burnett two weeks ago and told the senator that he thought the bill should have a vote in the full Senate.

"It was my understanding that there was a Quorum Court position Burnett wanted to put someone on there. The governor has not made a decision on who he wants, but I'm sure the person Burnett has asked for is not the person the governor intends to appoint," Davis said. "Henton will not be the person that he appoints."

The other lawmaker who backed the bill on Tuesday and then opposed it on Friday was Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Jeremy Hutchinson, R-Little Rock.

Hutchinson, who is the governor's nephew, said he made a mistake in voting for the bill in committee and "I felt cowardly about it."

"I do think religious activities are overregulated and the intent of the bill is good," he said. But he said "in limited circumstances it could allow for discrimination."

During Friday's debate, Sen. Bart Hester, R-Cave Springs, told senators that Congress approved a similar measure called the Religious Freedom Restoration Act in 2000, which President Bill Clinton signed into law.

Since that time, 22 states have passed similar laws and 16 other states have adopted it through a constitutional amendment or state Supreme Court ruling, he said.

Hester noted that HB1228 states that the Arkansas General Assembly finds that it is a compelling governmental interest to comply with federal civil-rights laws.

But Sen. Linda Chesterfield, D-Little Rock, told her colleagues that religious freedom "has not always been used in the best way."

"Having grown up in the South all of my life, I know that religious freedom has meant that slavery was OK. It has meant that Jim Crow was OK. It has meant that it was OK to keep people from achieving that which they deserved," Chesterfield said. "It is impossible for me, having suffered from that religious freedom in a negative way, to fail to say that we are better than this and that we have a come a long way, but we still have a long way to go."

Sen. Joyce Elliott, D-Little Rock, said the bill would harm gay Arkansans and heterosexuals, too, and cause businesses to locate elsewhere.

Afterward, Hester said he "totally disagrees" with the bill's critics, who claim it will lead to discrimination against homosexuals.

"You certainly cannot legislate [against] meanness in certain people, and people are going to be mean whether we have this law or not. I certainly don't support discriminating against someone," Hester said

"If Bart Hester owned a bakery, I would absolutely bake a cake for a homosexual couple or a homosexual wedding. What Bart Hester would not do is to deliver it and serve it at the wedding and participate in the ceremony."

A reporter asked why he wouldn't do so.

"I have a strongly held religious belief against homosexual marriage," Hester said. "I believe that marriage is between one man and one woman. So I wouldn't participate in the ceremony, but it doesn't mean I wouldn't do business with someone."

Information for this article was contributed by Spencer Willems of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and for the Democrat-Gazette by Claudia Lauer.

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