SB 67 Has Been Pulled

Three hours ago it appears that Ernie Otten's SB 67 bill has been pulled from the docket.  Representative Steve Hickey posted on the Twitter

stevehickey @stevehickey

SB67 has been pulled by it's sponsors meaning it will not proceed through the legislative process. Waters are too muddy. SB66 is a go.

If by muddy waters he meant that the bill allowed for pure and simple discrimination in the public and private businesses, he was correct.

SB66 is a bill I would be willing to support since it does protect religious institutions from being forced to perform ceremonies if it is against the church's or religious leader's beliefs. I think that a Catholic church should have the right to refuse to marry any couple, straight or gay, if they don't happen to be Catholic. If a Methodist church choose to marry a same-sex couple, then they have that right.

From my reading of the bill, it is limited to church and church officials and specific to the marriage issue

    Section 3. No member of the clergy nor lay official of any church or religion may be required to solemnize any marriage, provide services, accommodations, facilities, goods, or privileges for a purpose related to the solemnization, formation, or celebration of any marriage, or treat any marriage as valid for any purpose if such action would cause any such entity or individual to violate their sincerely held religious beliefs.

If there is a loophole built into the bill, I hope someone would point it out to me.  

My guess is that the muddied waters of SB 67 actually comes from the backlash that the bill had received and that the GOP wanted to put out that fire.  Even the "journalist" Pat Powers pointed out that the Democratic party was going to make this a clear election issue.  The a Democratic e-mail emerged showing that a petition against the bill had already received over 3500 signatures.  It is clear that the GOP is running scared from the issue.