A bill that looks at religious freedom was up for a final vote in the West Virginia Senate on February 28th; it passed with 30 in favor and 3 opposed.
House Bill 3042 is called the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) and is similar to a bill that failed in the West Virginia Legislature in 2016.
Supporters argue the state needs the law so residents can challenge government regulations that interfere with their religious beliefs.
“Such things as promoting transgenderism, homosexuality, in our classrooms, in our grade school classrooms,” Kirby said. “And these policies are sold to the American public and to the labor unions, the teachers unions, as being open, which that may be the intention. But what is happening is these teachers and administrators rights are being violated. Their religious beliefs are being infringed upon, because they’re being forced and compelled to speak in a way that violates their religious beliefs.”
Del. Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, attempted to amend the bill twice. One proposal would have required businesses to post signage in their windows saying what kind of people they would not serve. Pushkin’s amendments ultimately failed.
“We’re not determining something to be illegal,” Pinson said. “Rather, we’re creating a judicial test. We’re giving statutory instructions to the judiciary, that when a RFRA case where someone would allege that a law that we pass in this body or a local municipal ordinance or county ordinance is in violation of their religious conviction, that the judiciary is to use this to point us to a two question test: number one, is their compelling state interest? And number two, is the state acting in the least restrictive means possible?”
The House debated House Bill 3042 for more than an hour, and it passed 86 to 12.
The bill passed the senate on February 28th and it now goes to Governor James Conley Justice II desk to be signed into law.
Edited from : https://wvpublic.org/
Comments