JACKSON, Miss. — Mississippi’s religious freedom bill is still alive. Instead of going up for vote in the House Wednesday, members amended the bill to be sent it off to a study committee.
The bill cleared the Mississippi Senate in January, but due to national attention, brought on by a similar bill that was vetoed in Arizona, there has been controversy surrounding the bill because of fear it would lead to discrimination against gays and other groups not protected under law.
If approved by the Senate, the Religious Freedoms Study Committee would have the “responsibility of studying and preparing a report regarding proposed legislation that protects the religious freedoms of the citizens of the State of Mississippi.” The committee will consist of both the House and Senate Judiciary Committees and they would be required to meet at least three times before the end of the year and would be required file a report to the legislature by December 31, 2014.
