Despite Snyder veto promise, Senate will hold RFRA hearing

Between the Lines is reporting that the state Senate Judiciary Committee, despite Gov. Rick Snyder's promise of a veto, will hold a hearing on a controversial religious freedom bill on April 28.

Todd Heywood of Between the Lines, citing an anonymous source, reported that the committee will accept only written testimony and the panel will adjourn without taking a vote. The source views that unusual move as an attempt to satisfy conservatives within the Republican Party -- and an indication that the legislation is effectively dead.
The Michigan version of a Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) legislation would give legal standing to business owners to refuse -- based on religious convictions -- service to gay customers.

Progress Michigan, a liberal advocacy group that has been fighting attempts by the GOP-led Legislature to enact a RFRA bill, views the scheduled hearing as a contemptible rebuttal of gay rights.
A Progress Michigan spokesman told Between The Lines that the GOP "has not learned anything from what happened in Indiana" -- a reference to the business boycotts and public outcry that greeted Indiana's first attempt at a RFRA law.
State Sen. Steve Bieda of Warren, a Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said the plan to hold a hearing is designed to ingratiate the Republicans with "their radical right-wing base."