Religious freedom bill gains in House
AUSTIN — The Texas House on Monday tentatively approved the so-called “Save Chick-fil-A” religious freedom bill spawned by San Antonio City Council’s refusal to let the food chain open an airport location because of the company’s support for groups that oppose same-sex marriage.
The bill’s progress, despite welled eyes and emotional stories from members of the House LGBTQ Caucus who thought they had succeeded in killing it earlier in the session, likewise was cheered and panned in San Antonio, where the dropping of the fast-food restaurant from consideration for a city contract became an issue in the mayor’s race.
“I’m thrilled about it,” said Greg Brockhouse, who is in a runoff election June 8 in his challenge of Mayor Ron Nirenberg. “The Legislature has essentially said the city council has violated your constitutional rights and Chick-fil-A should be back in.”
Nirenberg, whose 3-percentage-point May 4 election edge over Brockhouse had been tighter than expected, said of the House bill: “The idea that we have to decide between our faith and treating people with dignity is a false choice. The only purpose of this bill is political theater and divisiveness.”
Senate Bill 1978 would bar Texas government agencies from
punishing people and companies for affiliating with or donating to a religious organization. The bill passed on a 79-62 vote largely along partisan lines, with Democrats voting against it, joined by Rep. Sarah Davis, R-Houston.
“The government should not be able to take an action against you for something you do in private, something you donate to, something you affiliate with and are associated with,” said Rep. Matt Krause, R-Fort Worth, who sponsored the bill in reaction to the city council’s decision in March to keep Chick-Fil-A out of San Antonio International Airport.
Several members of the House’s LGBTQ Caucus — who managed to kill an earlier version of the bill — spoke against it again, saying the measure is personal to them and fighting back tears.
“It sends a message that Texas is not welcome and open to all,” said Rep. Julie Johnson, D-Carrollton, “Nothing new is accomplished by this bill.”
Ashley Smith, a member of Nirenberg’s LGBTQ advisory committee, said conservative lawmakers’ embrace of the issue was partly intended to let the LGBTQ community know “that Texas is still not a state that embraces equality.”
The stance against gay marriage equality taken by Chickfil-A founder and CEO S. Truett Cathy, and the company’s financial support for Christian organizations that oppose gay marriage, for years have made the restaurant chain both a target and a hero for partisans of that debate. It was the reason City Councilman Roberto Treviño pushed the council to keep the company out of the airport and the reason other council members joined him.
Nirenberg’s rationale for his own vote for the ban, saying the company’s policy of closing on Sundays would inconvenience airport patrons and cost the city money, failed to keep Brockhouse from mobilizing religious conservatives around the issue in the mayor’s race.
Brockhouse, whose campaign was battered by pre-election media reports that police had responded to two separate calls alleging domestic violence by a former wife in 2006 and his current wife in 2009, said the Chick-fil-A issue has made for a galvanizing talking point with his supporters.
“I don’t know that it necessarily diverts attention from those allegations — my wife and I deny them, and they are false — but, frankly, it is the number one issue out there,” he said of the council’s restaurant vote. “I don’t think one issue is enough to tip the election for me, but it’s enough to rile up the voters. And that also means faith-based Hispanics and independents. Even Democrats are e-mailing me and saying this (council action) is ridiculous.”
The company has said it has no specific anti-LGBT agenda and neither do the groups it supports, which include the Marriage & Family Legacy Fund, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the National Christian Foundation.
Treviño on Monday called it “extremely disappointing that the state Legislature cares more about an out-of-state chicken company than their own community.”
The measure requires a final vote of approval from the House on Tuesday and one further vote from the Senate in the next week before it can be sent to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott for his approval. There are now two different versions of the bill, which provide different enforcement mechanisms. The Senate bill would allow the Texas attorney general to bring action against a governmental entity, officer or employee to enforce compliance. The House amended the bill to remove that provision.
Organizations and people who believe they were punished for their affiliations would then be able to sue the government entity — either to overturn a government decision or test whether it breaks the law — and could be entitled to court costs and attorney’s fees.
If a version is passed and signed by Abbott, the legislation would take effect Sept. 1.
San Antonio City Councilman Manny Pelaez, who voted to keep Chick-fil-A out of the airport, said Monday that he doubted the House bill would do what some of its supporters believe.
“I worry that the words ‘save Chick-fil-A’ have created the expectation that SB 1978, if signed into law, would result in forcing the city to sit down with Chickfil-A (or a franchisee) to work out a contract for the airport,” Pelaez said.
It won’t, he said.