There are a number of religious freedom bills now in the Georgia General Assembly. The Religious Freedom Restoration (RFRA) has been introduced in three separate bills, all of which are fine, but can lead to some confusion. To help clarify, here is the status of four:

SB 129 Georgia Religious Freedom Restoration Act introduced by Sen. Josh McKoon has passed the Senate. It was tabled in the House Judiciary with an anti-discrimination amendment. No movement.

HB 837 Religious Freedom Restoration Act introduced by Rep. Ed Setzler is in the House Judiciary Committee waiting to come up in a hearing. It adopts the federal RFRA language, to remove any concerns that SB 129 does not mirror the federal language. No movement. Contact your GA House Member and ask for support of this bill.

SB 284 First Amendment Defense Action (FADA) and HB 757 Pastor Protection Act were combined in the Senate Rules Committee on Feb. 16, 2016, which is a good development and should provide protection to both pastors and all Christians in Georgia. Senators should be asked to support this combined bill.

Some other legislation:
SR 135 enables a change to the Georgia Constitution to allow for pari-mutual gambling on horse-racing. It has passed out of the Senate Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee. This is a bad bill which will open the door for casinos.

HB 716 would prohibit a person who is licensed to provide professional counseling to counsel a person under 18 years of age with same-sex attraction to resist that inclination. No movement.