McCrory not supportive of NC's proposed religious freedom bill

Gov. Pat McCrory already has some critical words for the proposed N.C. Religious Freedom Restoration Act — which would echo bills that just became law in Indiana and passed Arkansas’ legislature on Tuesday.

The bill would allow individuals and business owners to use religious beliefs as a defense in court, which critics allege could allow people to discriminate against certain groups, namely the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Lawmakers nationwide have said it is simply a measure to protect citizens’ religious rights.

But McCrory said Monday that North Carolina’s religious freedom bill “makes no sense.”

“On the right, I think some of the items that are in the so-called religious freedom bill also made no sense, and I’ve stated that for the record,” said McCrory in a WFAE radio interview.

N.C. Speaker of the House Tim Moore weighed in on the bill on Tuesday during a news conference in Raleigh, saying that it will be carefully considered in light of the criticism that Indiana has faced.

“I think we need to show that if we approve this bill, that it will improve North Carolina’s brand,” he said, according to The (Raleigh) News & Observer.”

Some states have halted government employee travel to Indiana and several companies have already threatened to leave the state.

Jonah Hermann, outreach director for Equality N.C., an LGBT advocacy group, said if the bill became law, similar backlash could come with it and could cause North Carolina-based businesses, like Duke Energy and Red Hat, to leave the state.

“It’s great that Gov. McCrory has said that this legislation makes no sense,” Hermann said. “What we’re focused on doing is putting pressure on the governor’s mansion to not only say that he won’t sign this legislation, but outright veto it because it is not good for business and it is not good for the LGBT community.”

Hermann said North Carolina’s version of the bill could potentially be worse than the one in Indiana and in other states because of its wording.

The federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act and many state versions say that laws cannot pose a “substantial burden” on religious beliefs, while North Carolina’s bill says “burden” alone, a lower legal standard, which could make opting out easier.

McCrory said during Monday’s interview that he has a problem with the wording of the bill.

“At this time, I would not sign it the way it’s written because I don’t think you should have an exemption or a carve-out when you swore an oath to the Constitution of North Carolina or the Constitution of the United States of America.”

state@dailytarheel.com