Legislature to clarify controversial measure and simply reaffirm current law

Screen Shot 2016-03-02 at 8.35.45 AMTallahassee – Avoiding the disastrous route of their Georgia colleagues, the Florida House of Representatives today is expected to pass an amended version of the so-called Pastor Protection bill (HB 43) to limit its scope and send the message that controversial amendments allowing discrimination would not be entertained.

The bill had been widely criticized as a vaguely worded and unnecessary duplication of existing laws that served as a Trojan Horse for more nefarious measures to be added. That was the route Georgia lawmakers took by amending their pastor protection bill last month to allow any individual or faith-based business, for-profit entity, or taxpayer-funded organization to ignore nondiscrimination protections or any law that conflicts with their religious beliefs about marriage. The state is roiling from the public outrage and the economic backlash that has been strong enough to draw the threat of a veto from the Georgia governor.… More Florida House & Senate Avert Disaster of Expanded Pastor Protection Bill