By Louis Mayeux & Phil Kent
A House Judiciary Committee meeting scheduled for Monday morning has been canceled, making it questionable that the so-called religious liberty bill will receive full House consideration before the General Assembly’s Thursday night adjournment.
Rep. Stacey Evans, D-Smyrna, confirmed to InsiderAdvantage late Sunday afternoon that the meeting has been called off and Committee Chairman Wendell Willard, R-Sandy Springs, later confirmed the cancellation. However, Willard told Sen. Joshua McKoon, R-Columbus, the bill’s author, that he was emailing him compromise language on Monday so something could still be presented to lawmakers.
An anti-discrimination amendment offered by Rep. Mike Jacobs, R-Brookhaven, was added to the bill last week when three Republicans joined six Democrats in supporting it. That resulted in the bill being tabled, which Capitol observers believed meant the bill was dead for this year. However, McKoon told InsiderAdvantage late Sunday night that Willard and Senate President Pro Tem David Shafer want to work with him on writing acceptable language before the session adjourns..
The religious liberty bill passed the Senate, but has faced tougher hurdles in the House as evidenced by what McKoon described as the Jacobs “killer amendment.”
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