Todd Heywood of Between the Lines, citing an anonymous source, reported that the committee will accept only written testimony and the panel will adjourn without taking a vote. The source views that unusual move as an attempt to satisfy conservatives within the Republican Party — and an indication that the legislation is effectively dead.
The Michigan version of a Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) legislation would give legal standing to business owners to refuse — based on religious convictions — service to gay customers.
Progress Michigan, a liberal advocacy group that has been fighting attempts by the GOP-led Legislature to enact a RFRA bill, views the scheduled hearing as a contemptible rebuttal of gay rights.
A Progress Michigan spokesman told Between The Lines that the GOP “has not learned anything from what happened in Indiana” — a reference to the business boycotts and public outcry that greeted Indiana’s first attempt at a RFRA law.
State Sen. Steve Bieda of Warren, a Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said the plan to hold a hearing is designed to ingratiate the Republicans with “their radical right-wing base.”
