Ind. Senate OKs bill allowing religious discrimination

Tony Cook | The Indianapolis Star

INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Senate passed a measure Tuesday that would allow religious-affiliated organizations such as hospitals and universities to discriminate against employees based on religion, even if they receive state contracts.

The Republican-controlled Senate voted 39-11 in favor of the bill, which would allow faith-based recipients of state funds to hire employees based on religion. It would also allow those organizations to require employees to follow certain religious tenets.

All 10 Senate Democrats voted against the measure. Joining in the opposition was a lone one Republican, Sen. Ron Grooms of Jeffersonville. The measure now moves to the House.

Republican Sen. Travis Holdman, who authored the bill, said it was modeled on similar allowances in Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964

"It's not a legal license to discriminate" Holdman said. "It just says we're going to pull ourselves in line with federal law that allows for this kind of carve out, this kind of exemption, for faith based organizations."

But Democratic Sen. Karen Tallian said the language that would let employers require adherence to religious tenets goes further than federal law.

"This is outrageous," she said. "How many tenets must you conform to? Do you have to go to church every Sunday? Can you eat meat on a Friday."

Holdman said he filed the bill to help Indiana Wesleyan University obtain state workforce training grants. The state Attorney General's office last year determined that the university's religious lifestyle mandate violated state contracting requirements against employment discrimination, he said.

A similar measure stirred controversy last year when then-Rep. Eric Turner inserted it into an unrelated tax bill during a committee hearing. House leaders quickly moved to pan it.

This year, the measure appears to have more momentum. It is one of many "religious liberty" bills that Republican lawmakers have filed this session.