LANSING — Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said he will not sign into law the Religious Freedom Restoration Act bill currently under debate in the Michigan Senate.
Dave Murray, a spokesman for Snyder, said Snyder plans to veto any standalone legislation similar to the controversial law passed in Indiana this month. He would consider a RFRA bill if there was also an expansion of the Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act to include protections for gay people. “Gov. Snyder has said he supports religious freedom but strongly opposes discrimination of any kind,” Murray said. “He believes he should support constitutional protections and strike a balance.” He added, “Ensuring freedom of religion is a basic founding principle of our country but so is equality.”
A Religious Freedom Restoration Act bill was introduced in the Michigan House of Representatives in the end of the 2013-14 legislative session, but never made it to Snyder’s desk. It was one of the first pieces of legislation introduced in the Michigan Senate this year. There is a federal version of the law and 20 states have passed similar legislation since 1997, which is when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the federal version of the law did not apply to the states. However, many of the state laws also include protections for gay people, something that Indiana’s controversial law doesn’t have. A similar bill in Arkansas, passed by lawmakers in that state, was vetoed by Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson earlier this week.
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, also a Republican, has come under immense fire this week for signing that state’s RFRA bill into law. MORE