Michigan religious freedom bill stalls in lame-duck session

By Kathleen Gray, Detroit Free Press Lansing Bureau
7:40 p.m. EST December 17, 2014

LANSING – Some powerful voices are aligned on both sides of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, but it appears the bill that provides protections for "sincerely held religious beliefs" will die for the year.

Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville, R-Monroe, hasn't put the issue on the agenda and said he's not inclined to include it in the final days of the lame-duck session. If it's not today, it dies for the year, but it can be reintroduced next year.

"We've got these young, fresh people who just got elected clamoring to take on difficult issues, and we took most of them off the plate the last four years," he said. "There's not much left for them to work on. But they might get a chance with this one."

Richardville's reluctance to take up the bill comes as 15 senators — 14 Republicans and one Democrat (Sen. Tupac Hunter, D-Detroit) — signed a letter to Richardville asking him to take up the matter. The bill would need 20 votes to pass.

http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2014/12/17/religious-freedom-bill-likely-dies-year/20561539/