Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson is expected to announce today whether he will sign a "religious freedom" bill passed Tuesday by state legislators. The measure is similar to one approved in Indiana that has resulted in a massive backlash.
Critics of the measures say they allow businesses to refuse services to gays and lesbians. As we reported over the weekend, 19 other states have laws akin to the legislation in Indiana and Arkansas. But critics say that because sexual orientation is not a protected class in those two states, it leaves the door open for discrimination. Supporters of the measure say it advances religious freedom.
Hutchinson had previously said he would sign HB1228, as the Arkansas measure is known, but that was before the national criticism of Indiana's religious freedom law — criticism that prompted Indiana Gov. Mike Pence to say Tuesday, "We'll fix this and we'll move forward."
As NPR's Eyder Peralta noted, attempts in the Arkansas bill to bar discrimination against gays and lesbians failed.
Hutchinson has been urged by the state's business community to veto the bill.
Walmart CEO Doug McMillon, in a statement, said the bill "threatens to undermine the spirit of inclusion present throughout the state of Arkansas and does not reflect the values we proudly uphold."
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported that similar appeals came from the Arkansas Municipal League, the Association of Arkansas Counties and Mark Stodola, the mayor of Little Rock.
The Associated Press reports that the debate over the religious freedom bill is one the Republican Party had hoped to avoid ahead of the 2016 presidential election. It noted:
"[A]s the backlash intensifies over a so-called religious freedom law in Indiana, the GOP's leading White House contenders have been drawn into a messy clash that highlights the party's strong opposition to same-sex marriage and threatens to inject social issues into the early stages of the 2016 presidential primary season. "The debate has also energized Democrats nationwide while exposing sharp divisions between Republicans and local business leaders who oppose a law that critics say allows business owners to deny services to same-sex couples on religious grounds."
GOP presidential hopefuls have all endorsed the measures while Democrats have opposed it — as have several pro-business Republicans, including North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory and David Ralston, Georgia's Republican House speaker.
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