A week after Indiana Gov. Mike Pence signed a controversial “religious freedom” bill, the state’s Republican lawmakers are set to announce a new deal that will ensure new anti-discrimination protections.
The proposal — set for a local 9 a.m. rollout at the Indiana Statehouse and a 9.30 a.m. committee hearing — grants new protections to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender customers, employees and tenants.
Indiana Senate President Pro Tem David Long, R-Fort Wayne, and House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, met late Wednesday evening to discuss the deal with top staff and Pence’s chief of staff, Jim Atterholt.
“We feel there is a strong consensus,” Long said following the meeting. “We feel good about it. We did a lot of hard work to bring the groups together to find the comfort level everyone feels does the job of truly saying this does not discriminate against anyone.”
It is not necessarily certain that Pence will sign the new deal, however, as he still needs to review it.
According to the Indianapolis Star, discussions to fix the language in Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act began last Friday, one day after Pence signed it.
Since then, Indiana’s Republican lawmakers have come under fire for signing the RFRA, saying it gives businesses legal protections should the decide not discriminate against homosexuals. Some states have even banned travel and commerce with Indiana.
A draft of the proposal says Indiana’s new “religious freedom” law does not authorize a business or individual — known as a provider — to refuse to offer its services, facilities, goods, or public accommodation to any member of the public based on sexual orientation or gender identity, in addition to race, color, religion, ancestry, age, national origin, disability, sex, or military service. Language was also added to include protections in housing and employment.
Churches or other nonprofit religious organizations are exempt from the definition of a “provider.”
Pence has stood by the law since he signed it, criticizing the media for pushing forward misconceptions. However, over the weekend, he called on state legislature to draft language to clarify that the bill does not allow discrimination — a notion he has strongly fought.
