Arizona service-denial bill vetoed

Religious-beliefs measure seen as open attack against gays

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer puts her veto on a state Senate bill that thrust Arizona into the national spotlight in this photo tweeted by her office. She said the broadly worded bill “could divide Arizona in ways we could not even imagine, and no one would ever want.”
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer puts her veto on a state Senate bill that thrust Arizona into the national spotlight in this photo tweeted by her office. She said the broadly worded bill “could divide Arizona in ways we could not even imagine, and no one would ever want.”

PHOENIX - Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer on Wednesday vetoed a bill that would have allowed business owners to refuse service based on their own religious beliefs, rejecting a measure that opponents said would allow discrimination against gays.


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“My agenda is to sign into law legislation that advances Arizona,” Brewer said at a news conference. “I call them like I see them, despite the cheers or the boos from the crowd. After weighing all the arguments, I have vetoed Senate Bill 1062 moments ago.”

Loud cheers broke out outside the Capitol immediately after her announcement.

The governor said she gave the legislation careful deliberation in talking to her lawyers, residents and lawmakers on both sides of the debate.

But Brewer said the bill “could divide Arizona in ways we could not even imagine, and no one would ever want.” The bill was broadly worded and could result in unintended negative consequences, she added.

The bill backed by Republicans in the Legislature was designed to give added protection from lawsuits to people who assert their religious beliefs in refusing service to homosexuals. But opponents called it an open attack on gays that invited discrimination.

The bill thrust Arizona into the national spotlight last week after both chambers of the state Legislature approved it. As the days passed, more and more groups, politicians and average people weighed in against Senate Bill 1062.

The measure prompted tourists to cancel reservations, and companies to say they would locate elsewhere if it became law. Opponents said the bill threatened to reverse the economic recovery in a state among those hardest-hit by the housing crash and that it would be another black eye for the state that saw a national backlash over its 2010 immigration-crackdown law.

A boycott sparked by the immigration crackdown cost Arizona $141 million in lost contracts and convention business, according to a report commissioned by the Center for American Progress, a Washington research group.

Companies such as Apple Inc. and American Airlines, and politicians including GOP Sen. John McCain, a former Republican presidential nominee, were among those who urged Brewer to veto the legislation.

Three Republicans who had voted for the bill last week were among those who pushed Brewer to veto it. They said in a letter that while the intent of their vote “was to create a shield for all citizens’ religious liberties, the bill has been mischaracterized by its opponents as a sword for religious intolerance.”

SB1062 allows people to claim their religious beliefs as a defense against claims of discrimination. Backers cited a New Mexico Supreme Court decision that allowed a gay couple to sue a photographer who refused to document their wedding, even though the law that allowed that suit doesn’t exist in Arizona.

Republican state Sen. Steve Yarbrough called his proposal a First Amendment issue during a Senate debate.

“This bill is not about allowing discrimination,” Yarbrough said. “This bill is about preventing discrimination against people who are clearly living out their faith.”

Cathi Herrod, president of the Center for Arizona Policy, supported the bill in a statement on her organization’s website.

“The fear-mongering from opponents is unrelated to the language of the bill, and proves that hostility towards people of faith is very real,” Herrod said.

Democrats said it was a veiled attempt to legally discriminate against gay people and could allow people to break nearly any law and cite religious freedom as a defense.

“The heart of this bill would allow for discrimination versus gays and lesbians,” said Sen. Steve Gallardo, D-Phoenix. “You can’t argue the fact that bill will invite discrimination. That’s the point of this bill. It is.”

The bill is similar to a proposal last year brought by Yarbrough but vetoed by Brewer, a Republican.

That legislation also would have allowed people or religious groups to sue if they believed they might be subject to a government regulation that infringed on their religious rights. Yarbrough stripped that provision from the bill in the hopes Brewer would embrace the new version.

Information for this article was contributed by Bob Christie, Brady McCombs and Jesse Holland of The Associated Press and by Jennifer Oldham and Christopher Palmeri of Bloomberg News.

Front Section, Pages 7 on 02/27/2014

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