The Georgia General Assembly 2015 term ended on April 2. They will not convene again until January 2016 for the second term of the two-year legislative cycle.

The Religious Freedom Restoration Act (SB 129) passed the Senate, and got as far as the House Judiciary Committee before being tabled because of the addition of an “anti-discrimination” amendment. This important legislation is still alive for 2016, but has suffered negative publicity because of deliberate misinformation from activists and the media. The anti-discrimination language defeats the purpose of the bill:

• Faith-based ministries risk losing the religious exemption within employment law. Consider this, if a religious freedom law contains language that says you cannot discriminate based on religious belief, then we lose the ability to “discriminate” based on religion when it comes to who we hire.
• For the same reason, and probably more likely, we also risk losing the morality clause that almost all Christian schools require. That is, prohibiting employees from living in adultery, homosexuality, etc.
• If you are familiar with the situation with the Houston pastors, much of that stems from the anti-discrimination language in the Texas RFRA law. Houston passed their accommodation law requiring businesses to let men use women’s restrooms, Christian ministries were not exempt. The way they tried to deal with it was through a petition requiring the city to allow the voters to decide whether to adopt the new law, but the city rejected the petition, and so a group sued (not the pastors). As an intimidation tactic, the city subpoenaed the pastors’ sermons, text messages, emails, and other private communications to their members. Municipalities, counties, etc. can start adopting these accommodation laws, and without a strong RFRA, faith-based ministries are not exempt.

Senate Resolution 135 (SR 135) would open the door to allow gambling on horse racing in the state. It would require a change to the Georgia Constitution, so it must pass through the General Assembly, and also requires a vote of the citizens of Georgia. It failed to pass out of the Senate by Crossover Day, so it is dead for 2015. Gerald Harris, Editor at The Christian Index, has written an excellent article outlining the problems with this effort by the horse racing industry, which you can read here.

HB 1 allows Georgia citizens to posses a small amount of cannabis oil for the treatment of a limited amount of medical ailments. It has passed the House and now must move through the Senate. It is not expected to pass in its current form. The desire to help those with severe medical ailments is noble, but the complications of initiating the legalization of marijuana is troubling, especially considering that it will still be illegal according to federal law. It passed the House and Senate and is awaiting the governor’s signature.

Education Savings Account (HB 243 & SB 92). Either bill would allow public school funds to be applied to individualized education on a per child basis. It was debated in the Ways & Means Committee. It is still alive for 2016.

Senate Resolution 388 (SR 388) would initiate a change to the Georgia Constitution which would “prevent discrimination in the public funding of social services by allowing religious or faith based organizations to receive public aid.” This removes the so-called “Blaine Amendment” from the Georgia Constitution, and allows public resources to go to faith-based organizations (e.g., children’s home, addiction programs, schools, etc.). It must not only pass both the House & Senate, but because it is a change to the Georgia Constitution, it is also required to be on a ballot for a vote. It is dead for 2015.

HB 555 is helpful pro-life legislation which will streamline reporting requirements for abortions in Georgia. Press Release by Georgia Life Alliance: “..according to data obtained from the Georgia Department of Public Health, only 107,000 of 208,000 abortions performed between 2006-2012 were conducted with the doctor certifying they gave the patient the required informed consent.” It failed to make it out of the House by Crossover Day.