<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">“I think if a business is going to engage in such a practice, then it should be made clear, But, I don’t consider that a fix that would make the bill attractive. I think the bill in itself is not fair, to make it acceptable to discriminate.”</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">- Rep. Shirley Ringo, D-Moscow, who submitted the sign amendment</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Alas, a win for the good guys!</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Courtesy of today's (February 20, 2014) Spokesman-Review.</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">-----------------------------------</div><div><h1 style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; clear: both; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; line-height: 1.2; font-size: 28px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(17, 17, 17);">Idaho House shelves bill that would allow religion as defense against gays</h1><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">BOISE – Controversial legislation that critics say would protect discrimination against gays on religious grounds was pulled from the Idaho House on Wednesday.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The House unanimously agreed to return HB 427 to committee, effectively dooming it for the year. House Speaker Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, said, “It’s not coming back this session.”</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">More than 500 people filled the state Capitol last week to oppose the bill at a committee hearing, with many saying it would undermine local ordinances passed in seven Idaho cities – including Sandpoint, Coeur d’Alene and Boise – to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">But state Rep. Lynn Luker, R-Boise, the bill’s sponsor, said the proposal was in response to a New Mexico case in which a wedding photographer was penalized after refusing to photograph a same-sex marriage ceremony.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“The intent of the bill was to provide a shield to protect the free exercise of religion under the First Amendment in light of the variety of increasing government mandates,” Luker said in a statement. “However, many misinterpreted the intent to be a sword for discrimination. I respect the concerns that I heard and therefore want to find the right language to balance those concerns.”</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">State lawmakers already had submitted a stack of proposed amendments a quarter-inch high, prompting Bedke to call for a “thoughtful pause.” Proposed amendments ranged from converting the bill into one to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation, to one proposing that businesses be required to post signs to indicate which groups they want to exclude.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“I think if a business is going to engage in such a practice, then it should be made clear,” said Rep. Shirley Ringo, D-Moscow, who submitted the sign amendment. But she added, “I don’t consider that a fix that would make the bill attractive. I think the bill in itself is not fair, to make it acceptable to discriminate.”</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Luker also proposed a companion measure, HB 426, to prevent the state from revoking or suspending occupational licenses for violations that the license-holder commits for religious reasons. That bill never got a committee hearing.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">An Idaho attorney general’s opinion said it likely violated both the Idaho and U.S. constitutions.</span></p></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">-----------------------------------<br><br><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)</span></div><div><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000">http://www.MoscowCares.com</font></a></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tom Hansen</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Moscow, Idaho</span></div></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div></div></body></html>