NC Speaker: No action on "religious freedom" bill this year

Raleigh, N.C. (AP) — The North Carolina House won't act on a "religious freedom" bill this year that supporters promoted as protecting religious liberties but others criticized as legalizing discrimination against gays and lesbians, Speaker Tim Moore said Thursday.

"For this session, the bill's not going to move," Moore, R-Cleveland, told reporters.

The announcement by Moore, which has followed some hand-wringing among fellow House Republicans over the measure, could help North Carolina avoid for now the level of negative attention received by Indiana when it passed a similar law last month.

But it also may anger social conservatives who worry business owners or individuals may lack a stronger defense for refusing to carry out laws that would burden their ability to follow one's religious beliefs, particularly opposition to gay marriage.

There's an identical "Religious Freedom Restoration Act" in the Senate, where Republicans also in charge haven't completely given up on the measure. But the unwillingness of the House to go along could signal the death of the idea this year. Legislators are expected to adjourn this summer.

Moore said the bill's sponsors raised "some legitimate issues" but also pointed out the state constitution safeguards religious liberties, too.

"I do think it's worthwhile that the General Assembly look at making sure that those protections are there and seeing if there are any deficiencies," Moore said, but added, "that's a process that we can do through the deliberative legislative process over time."

Moore said the sponsors have good intentions, but the reaction to the Indiana law — which prompted threats of boycotts and lost business — led to mischaracterizations of what they were trying to do. The flap "made this bill take on a very different tone than certainly what I believe the bill sponsors wanted it do," he said.

In North Carolina, Democratic lawmakers and big companies with a North Carolina presence such as IBM and American Airlines have opposed the idea. Republican Gov. Pat McCrory has questioned the need for it, but he's never said whether he would veto such a bill if it came to his desk.

Moore said concerns from businesses he talked to contributed to the decision, but he said those concerns had more to do with the politics associated with the bill. Some Republican colleagues were worried about defending the measure back in their districts if it was debated, the speaker said.

Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, said in a release later Thursday that Senate Republicans "are carefully assessing whether the constitution provides appropriate protections to religious liberty or if additional action is necessary." Berger told WRAL-TV earlier in the day the Senate's "religious freedom" measure wouldn't be taken up next week as a self-imposed bill deadline nears.

Moore said his chamber would likely take up a Senate bill sponsored by Berger that would let magistrates and assistant and deputy registers of deeds refuse to carry out marriage duties if they have a "sincerely held religious objection."

Equality North Carolina, a gay rights group, doesn't like either bill. But group Executive Director Chris Sgro called Moore's announcement on the "religious freedom" bill a "victory for equality." In a statement, Sgro credited people speaking out and pushing "back on the notion that religion should ever be used to discriminate against North Carolinians."

Pointing out the Senate could still act, the conservative North Carolina Values Coalition continued to promote the "religious freedom" bill late Thursday, saying it would not harm the state's economy if passed.

"Religious freedom supporters want fairness, balance, respect for a diversity of beliefs and limits on government power over North Carolinians' lives," coalition executive director Tami Fitzgerald said in a statement.

By Gary D. Robertson, Associated Press. Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

The Gayly – April 24, 2015 @ 10:20am.