NEWS

Ohio nixed religious freedom bill, but Kasich hints at support

Chrissie Thompson
Gannett Ohio

COLUMBUS – Ohio's religious-freedom controversy flamed out last year almost before it started, and the state representative who introduced the legislation says he doesn't think it's coming back.

But on Tuesday, Gov. John Kasich, a possible presidential candidate, through a spokesman endorsed the idea of both a religious-freedom bill and anti-discrimination policies.

"The governor is confident that, in the land of freedom, we can find a way to preserve our religious freedom and also live free from discrimination," spokesman Rob Nichols said in the statement.

Next door in Indiana, a newly passed RFRA bill has created a national media firestorm. After Republican Gov. Mike Pence signed the bill into law last week, some businesses and leaders are vowing to boycott the state, based on the potential for businesses to discriminate against same-sex couples.

On Tuesday, Pence called on fellow Republicans to pass legislation that would clarify that the law doesn't allow discrimination.

State Rep. Tim Derickson, R-Oxford, introduced a similar religious-freedom bill in 2013 but withdrew the proposal last year after concerns surfaced that it would allow businesses to discriminate against customers based on sexual orientation. He doesn't plan to bring it back.

"I know of no one interested in reintroducing a (Religious Freedom Restoration Act) bill in Ohio," Derickson said Tuesday in a text message.

Ohio lawmakers are free to introduce any bill they'd like, but no House Republican has so far discussed bringing back the RFRA legislation or anything similar to it, said Brittany Warner, spokeswoman for Ohio House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger, R-Clarksville.

"Conversations that members of the caucus are having are about ensuring that this chamber does not pursue a similar pathway (as Indiana's) that would be misconstrued as being discriminatory in any way," Warner said.

If GOP caucuses decide to pass such a bill, fellow Republican Kasich hinted he'd support them — if the proposal included provisions to protect against discrimination.

When he served in Congress, Kasich supported the 1993 federal religious freedom law, spokesman Nichols said in a statement. And like Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland before him, Kasich signed an executive order in his first month in office forbidding the state government from discriminating against its employees based on sexual orientation. (He omitted gender identity from the order, which opponents say leaves transgender Ohioans vulnerable when they seek state employment.)

"In our great, varied and diverse nation, Americans have always been able to find the right way to tolerate our differences, and the governor is confident we'll continue to successfully do that," Nichols said.

Derickson and fellow bill sponsor Bill Patmon, a Cleveland Democrat, withdrew Ohio's RFRA bill last year after another religious-freedom bill firestorm, this time in Arizona. That state's bill would have allowed business owners to refuse service to a customer for a reason such as sexual orientation if the refusal was based on a "sincerely held" religious belief. Republican Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed the measure.

"We don't want a bill that discriminates in any way against any group of people," Derickson said last year.

"What we did want, what the intent was, was to protect our First Amendment religious rights. And if indeed the bill went further and in any way discriminated — which I think is questionable, I'm not certain that it did. But if it did, we want to stop it. And we're going to stop it. As far as I'm concerned, at this point in time, it's over."

Activists have called on lawmakers to do more than just kill the religious-freedom bill. Despite Kasich's executive order, Ohio lacks a state law that would prohibit discrimination in hiring or housing based on sexual orientation.

The Legislature has declined to pass such a bill in previous years, despite support from some moderate Republicans.

Supporters have yet to introduce an anti-discrimination bill in the current General Assembly, whose session runs from January through December 2016. Even if they do, majority GOP caucuses in both the House and Senate appear unlikely to change their minds this year.