Indianapolis Star:
Intense negotiations about how to fix Indiana's controversial "religious freedom" law are underway at the Statehouse as Gov. Mike Pence, legislative leaders and some of the state's biggest powerbrokers try to balance the competing interests of business leaders and social conservatives.
At issue: To what extent should gays and lesbians be protected from discrimination under legislation intended to clarify the new law.
The exact language of the proposed fix appears to be evolving.
A copy of proposed language obtained by The Indianapolis Star was presented to Gov. Mike Pence Wednesday morning. By afternoon, House Speaker Brian Bosma met in his Statehouse office with Senate President Pro Tempore David Long, and sports and business leaders, including Indianapolis Motor Speedway CEO Mark Miles, Indy Chamber Vice President Mark Fisher and a representative from tech company Salesforce.
Greg Sargent:
And so, is there any clarification that can satisfy business leaders and gay advocates that would not be denounced by religious conservative groups as a “capitulation” to secular liberals and a grant of a “special right” to gays and lesbians that would infringe on religious liberty? We’ll soon find out. And similar battles loom in Georgia and North Carolina, both states where shifting demographics are slowly loosening the GOP’s grip.
Paul Waldman:
That doesn't mean that Pence actually wants legal protections against such discrimination, of course. He just wants everyone to know how much it bothers him. The law is what's at issue here, and as the Indiana law now stands, there's no state prohibition on discrimination against gay people (some localities, including Indianapolis and Bloomington, have their own anti-discrimination laws).
But mark my words: Within a few years, Republicans will favor changing the laws that prohibit discrimination based on race, religion, or gender to add sexual orientation as well. They'll find some new hill on which to make their stand, before abandoning that one as well and rushing to find another. You have to have some sympathy for them: The culture war is no fun if you're constantly in retreat.
More politics and policy below the fold.
Catherine Rampell:
With relatively little fanfare, the economics of discrimination seems to have been flipped on its head.
At least, that is one optimistic, heartening way to interpret the national backlash to Indiana’s new “religious freedom” law, which has set off a wave of boycotts by consumers, celebrities, politicians and businesses.
Greg Sargent:
In the latest sign of a possible Republican retreat in the culture wars, Governor Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas today reversed course and said he would not sign his state’s version of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and instead would push to have it drawn more in line with a federal version passed in 1993.
The move — which comes as Republicans in Indiana are also examining ways to clarify their state’s RFRA so it has better protections for gays and lesbians against discrimination — could end up narrowing the scope of Arkansas’ bill in so that it doesn’t allow for larger corporations to claim religious liberty as a defense and could reduce the standard the government must meet in challenging invocations of religious freedom, the New York Times reports.
At his presser today, Governor Hutchinson said his son, Seth, had urged him to oppose the bill. The issue, Hutchinson said, “has divided families, and there is clearly a generational gap.” He added: “There’s a generational difference of opinion on these issues.”
It’s hard to say for sure, based on the polling we have now, but there’s a decent chance Hutchinson is right.
HuffPost:
The climate in which these RFRAs are passed is also very different than it was a decade ago. Because same-sex marriage is increasingly legal, civil rights advocates contend these laws will be used to override local non-discrimination laws that protect people on the basis of sexual orientation.
On Tuesday, Sarah Warbelow, legal director at the Human Rights Campaign, said, "We would like to see both Indiana and Arkansas adopt language clarifying that the state RFRA cannot be used to undermine federal, state or local non-discrimination laws."
Arkansas lawmakers floated this idea during a committee hearing earlier this week, but the bill's author, state Rep. Bob Ballinger (R), said it would be too confusing to attempt to define what constitutes discrimination. The bill ultimately ended up including a legislative finding that it is a "compelling governmental interest to comply with federal civil rights laws.” But this language is not meaningful, advocates say, in part because federal civil rights laws have no explicit protections for LGBT people.
It is still unclear what kind of legislative fix Pence will approve for his law, or under what conditions Hutchinson will sign the Arkansas legislation. The Arkansas governor said on Wednesday that even his own son had signed a petition asking him to veto the bill.
"There's a generational difference of opinion on these issues," Hutchinson said.
Chris Geidner:
Amid a national debate over religious liberty bills being considered in several states, nearly 40 top tech leaders have joined together in urging states to provide protections for LGBT people in state civil rights laws and explicitly ban denial of services to people.
“Religious freedom, inclusion, and diversity can co-exist and everyone including LGBT people and people of faith should be protected under their states’ civil rights laws,” the statement issued by the tech group reads.
Max Levchin, the CEO of Affirm, was the organizer of the effort, working with the Human Rights Campaign on the statement and gathering the 39 signatories, who range from Dick Costolo of Twitter to the heads of eBay and PayPal.
“To ensure no one faces discrimination and ensure everyone preserves their right to live out their faith,” the group urges, “we call on all legislatures to add sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes to their civil rights laws and to explicitly forbid discrimination or denial of services to anyone.”
Brian Beutler on Ted Cruz:
Yes, his family lives in Texas. If you assume that the Supreme Court will uphold the subsidies, then it makes sense for him to pick a plan with a good local provider network in Houston. But it doesn’t make much sense for him, in terms of his health and finances, to purchase insurance in Texas while simultaneously asking the Supreme Court to send the Texas insurance market into a death spiral of adverse selection.
Perhaps Cruz is disclosing in the most roundabout possible way that he no longer believes the Court will or should eliminate ACA subsidies in Texas and elsewhere. More likely he thinks he can turn his family’s own travails with Obamacare to his advantage on the campaign trail this summer. If his plan gets canceled or his premiums mushroom after a bad Court ruling in June, he can play up his own Obamacare horror story to frothing Republican primary voters, while omitting the fact that he quite literally asked for it.
PPP:
PPP's newest Republican national poll finds that Ted Cruz has the big momentum following the official announcement of his candidacy last week. His support has increased from 5% to 16% in just over a month, enough to make him one of three candidates in the top tier of GOP contenders, along with Scott Walker and Jeb Bush.
Walker continues to lead the field with 20%, although that's down from his 25% standing a month ago. Bush continues to poll at 17%, followed by Cruz at 16%, Ben Carson and Rand Paul at 10%, Marco Rubio and Mike Huckabee at 6%, Chris Christie at 4%, and Rick Perry at 3%.
Cruz has really caught fire with voters identifying themselves as 'very conservative' since his announcement. After polling at only 11% with them a month ago, he now leads the GOP field with 33% to 25% for Walker and 12% for Carson with no one else in double digits. Last month Walker led with that group and almost all of the decline in his overall support over the last month has come within it as those folks have moved toward Cruz. Cruz's name recognition with Republican voters has increased from 61% to 82% since his announcement. Besides Cruz the other candidate with momentum over the last month is Rand Paul. His support has increased from 4% to 10%.
Bush's struggles with furthest right segment of party- only 4% of 'very conservative' voters want his as nominee:
http://t.co/...
— @ppppolls