Georgia is one of 11 states that does not have state-level RFRA protections. Those are laws that protect the First Amendment rights of people of faith, such school teachers and business owners.
Cole Muzio, who leads Frontline Policy Council, spoke to AFN before the RFRA bill was approved Wednesday night. Georgia, he said, is the only state in the Southeast U.S. without religious liberty protections.
“It is the only state, in the top 15 best states to do business, that does not have RFRA protections,” he further said. “And it is the only Republican-controlled state that does not RFRA protections.”
The measure passed in the House 96-70. It had already passed in the Senate, where it originated as SB 36.
Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, has said he supports the measure and will sign it into law if it mirrors the federal law.
"My commitment to that promise, and to the deeply held beliefs of Georgians of faith, remains unwavering," he stated in an X post. "I also want to assure those of differing views that Georgia remains a welcoming place to live, work, and raise a family."
Gov. Kemp's comment about "differing views" came after Democrats in the legislature, including a Jewish state rep and a Muslim lawmaker, described the measure as discriminatory.
Those same Democrats this week also walked out of the House chambers in protest when Republicans voted to block taxpayer-funded sex-change operations for state prisoners.
A religious freedom bill was vetoed by former governor Nathan Deal, a Republican, in 2015.
There is currently a federal Freedom of Restoration Act, signed by Bill Clinton in 1993, but Muzio says the courts have ruled the federal version does not apply to state and to local laws.
Efforts to pass RFRAs in other states hit a stone wall in the mid-2010s but there has been a renewed push. For example, states such as Wyoming, Iowa, West Virginia, Utah, Nebraska and Montana have passed RFRAs in the last few years.
