The bill: • Specifies that no state action may burden a person's exercise of religion, even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability, unless it is demonstrated that applying the burden to a person's exercise of religion is essential to further a compelling governmental interest and the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental interest; • Defines exercise of religion as the practice or observance of religion. The bill specifies that exercise of religion includes the ability to act or refuse to act in a manner substantially motivated by a person's sincerely held religious beliefs, whether or not the exercise is compulsory or central to a larger system of religious belief; except that it does not include the ability to act or refuse to act based on race or ethnicity. • Provides a claim or defense to a person whose exercise of religion is burdened by state action; and • Specifies that nothing in the bill creates any rights by an employee against an employer unless the employer is a government employer.
Year
2016
Current status
- House Committee on State, Veterans, & Military Affairs Postpone Indefinitely (03/16/2016)
