Republican Iowa lawmakers advanced a bill Tuesday that would set a heightened legal standard in cases where religious freedom questions are at odds with state law.
The bill, titled the “Religious Freedom Restoration Act,” is modeled after federal legislation that was signed into law by Democratic President Bill Clinton in 1993.
Companion bills were passed by majority Republicans out of the Iowa House and Iowa Senate subcommittees Tuesday, making them eligible for a vote in the full committees. The lone Democrat on each subcommittee voted against the legislation.
"I've worked on this bill for many years, and I feel like this fleshes out the First Amendment protections that are in the Constitution," said Republican Sen. Sandy Salmon of Janesville during the subcommittee meeting.
Under the bill, courts would need to apply strict scrutiny, the highest legal standard, to claims that a law violates a person’s religious liberty. To survive the test, the law would need to serve a compelling state interest and be narrowly tailored to accomplish it.
The federal law applies only to the federal government, but at least two dozen states have passed state-level versions.
Civil rights groups and some business groups opposed to the bill, saying it would allow people and businesses to discriminate against people on religious grounds.
Connie Ryan, executive director of the Interfaith Alliance of Iowa, said the First Amendment already provides the necessary protections for religious freedom and the bill would allow broad exemptions to state laws for religious actions.
“The religious exemption legislation is broad and vague, leaving things open to abuse and potentially harming people,” she said. “The law could be used by anyone to claim that they don’t have to follow any other law, leading to legal chaos.”
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Opponents said it could allow someone to refuse to allow a same-sex couple to adopt a child, a landlord to refuse to rent to an unmarried couple and a business owner to refuse to serve customers based on their religion.
Rep. Lindsay James, a Democrat from Dubuque, voted against the bill in the House. A Presbyterian minister, James said she cares deeply about religious freedom but that the bill "weaponizes religious beliefs to justify discrimination."
The federal law was invoked in a 2014 case involving Hobby Lobby, in which the U.S. Supreme Court decided the law allowed private corporations to deny employees insurance coverage of contraception on religious grounds. A federal judge in Utah, later that year, cited that decision in his decision to exempt testimony in a case in which a fundamentalist Mormon church was accused of using child labor.
Some top employers and business groups in Iowa, including Principal Financial Group and the Iowa Chamber Alliance, are registered against the bill, arguing it will make it more difficult to recruit employees and turn away potential business development.
Republican lawmakers have attempted to pass the legislation multiple times. They said the concerns about economic impact have subsided as the bill has been passed in several other states without them suffering economic setbacks.
The bill’s supporters, including religious organizations, said the legislation introduces a sensible check on the power of the state to impede on a person’s religious beliefs and actions. They said the policy has not been a pathway to discrimination.
“Opponents of this legislation can only list hypothetical situations because in federal law and in numerous states where this has been adopted, this legislation has not led to discrimination in the decades that we have lived under religious freedom laws such as this,” said Rep. Steve Holt, a Republican from Denison.
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The bill, titled the “Religious Freedom Restoration Act,” is modeled after federal legislation that was signed into law by Democratic President Bill Clinton in 1993.
Companion bills were passed by majority Republicans out of the Iowa House and Iowa Senate subcommittees Tuesday, making them eligible for a vote in the full committees. The lone Democrat on each subcommittee voted against the legislation.
"I've worked on this bill for many years, and I feel like this fleshes out the First Amendment protections that are in the Constitution," said Republican Sen. Sandy Salmon of Janesville during the subcommittee meeting.
Under the bill, courts would need to apply strict scrutiny, the highest legal standard, to claims that a law violates a person’s religious liberty. To survive the test, the law would need to serve a compelling state interest and be narrowly tailored to accomplish it.
The federal law applies only to the federal government, but at least two dozen states have passed state-level versions.
Civil rights groups and some business groups opposed to the bill, saying it would allow people and businesses to discriminate against people on religious grounds.
Connie Ryan, executive director of the Interfaith Alliance of Iowa, said the First Amendment already provides the necessary protections for religious freedom and the bill would allow broad exemptions to state laws for religious actions.
“The religious exemption legislation is broad and vague, leaving things open to abuse and potentially harming people,” she said. “The law could be used by anyone to claim that they don’t have to follow any other law, leading to legal chaos.”
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Opponents said it could allow someone to refuse to allow a same-sex couple to adopt a child, a landlord to refuse to rent to an unmarried couple and a business owner to refuse to serve customers based on their religion.
Rep. Lindsay James, a Democrat from Dubuque, voted against the bill in the House. A Presbyterian minister, James said she cares deeply about religious freedom but that the bill "weaponizes religious beliefs to justify discrimination."
The federal law was invoked in a 2014 case involving Hobby Lobby, in which the U.S. Supreme Court decided the law allowed private corporations to deny employees insurance coverage of contraception on religious grounds. A federal judge in Utah, later that year, cited that decision in his decision to exempt testimony in a case in which a fundamentalist Mormon church was accused of using child labor.
Some top employers and business groups in Iowa, including Principal Financial Group and the Iowa Chamber Alliance, are registered against the bill, arguing it will make it more difficult to recruit employees and turn away potential business development.
Republican lawmakers have attempted to pass the legislation multiple times. They said the concerns about economic impact have subsided as the bill has been passed in several other states without them suffering economic setbacks.
The bill’s supporters, including religious organizations, said the legislation introduces a sensible check on the power of the state to impede on a person’s religious beliefs and actions. They said the policy has not been a pathway to discrimination.
“Opponents of this legislation can only list hypothetical situations because in federal law and in numerous states where this has been adopted, this legislation has not led to discrimination in the decades that we have lived under religious freedom laws such as this,” said Rep. Steve Holt, a Republican from Denison.
Iowa Republicans advance bill on religious liberty protections
Civil rights and some business groups oppose proposal, citing ‘legal chaos’ and economic consequences.
www.thegazette.com
