Advocacy groups hope to enlist the help of business interests that carry clout
By Andrew DeMillo
Associated Press
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - When Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced his pick to lead the state's economic development agency, his intent was to tout efforts to lure more jobs and compete internationally in the hunt for companies. Instead, he spent a good part of his news conference discussing his support for a religious protection law that critics say will lead to widespread discrimination against gays and lesbians.
It was the latest sign of how the fight over the proposed "Religious Freedom Restoration Act" is testing an effort by gay rights supporters to turn the fight over anti-discrimination laws and same-sex marriage into a financial debate, not a social one.
From touting businesses that embrace anti-discrimination policies that include sexual orientation and gender identity to targeting the types of high-tech firms Hutchinson hopes to lure to the state, advocacy groups hope to enlist the help of business interests that typically have had more clout before the state Legislature.
The bill advanced by the Senate last week would prohibit any state or local government action that infringes upon someone's religious beliefs unless a "compelling" interest was proven. If signed into law, it would make Arkansas the second this year to enact such a law, while other states consider similar proposals.
"This is a concerted effort by a hateful political faction to say that Arkansas does not welcome all its citizens, sending a clear message that this state is not open for business and all this is happening on Gov. Hutchinson's watch," Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, said at a news conference last week.
Griffin criticized the governor as he stood next to a copy of an advertisement his group planned to run in Silicon Valley that featuring a "Closed for Business Due to Discrimination" sign hanging on a door. He spokes moments after Hutchinson had announced Mike Preston as the state's new economic development director.
Hutchinson faced questions over his support for a measure a month after expressing reservations about potential unintended consequences. The Republican governor said he believed the legislation, which faces a final vote in the House this week, balanced those concerns with religious protections.
"I think it's a bill that puts a high priority on religious freedom and recognizes that as a part of the balance," the governor said.
HRC and other groups are hoping the same type of backlash from businesses that led to Arizona's governor vetoing similar legislation last year will lead Hutchinson to change his mind. They've noted comments from retail giant Wal-Mart, which said the measure sends the wrong message about Arkansas, and touted opposition by high-tech companies such as Apple and Yelp.
It mirrors the strategy in Indiana, where the NCAA has expressed concerns about an identical measure signed into law last week. It also follows efforts by HRC to promote support for same-sex marriage as a business issue, with the state's former economic chief announcing his support for gay marriage two years ago.
The economic argument, however, didn't fare well earlier this year when Hutchinson allowed a measure to go into law without his signature that barred local governments from passing anti-discrimination ordinances that include sexual orientation or gender identity. The proposal faced widespread opposition from lobbyists for cities and counties, who said it went against the idea of local control.
The lawmakers behind the religion bill have dismissed complaints about the measure as overblown, noting that they modeled the legislation on a decades-old federal law that's already adopted in 20 states.
"You certainly cannot legislate meanness in certain people, and people are going to be mean whether we have this law or not," Republican Sen. Bart Hester told reporters last week.
So far, the only Republican opposition that has come up to the bill hasn't been based on an economic argument. Instead, it's based on religion.
"I think there are instances where religious activities are over-regulated, but in my estimation that does not outweigh the chance that somebody uses religion to do what Jesus would not want to be done in his name, which is to discriminate against somebody and offend a brother or sister," Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson, the governor's nephew and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said after voting against the measure.
Published: Tue, Mar 31, 2015
