Box Turtle Bulletin
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobby“Now you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife…”
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobbyApril 1st, 2015
Supporters of the Arkansas License-to-Discriminate bill have argued that their state version of RFRA “mirrors” the federal law signed by President Bill clinton in 1993 — which it clearly doesn’t. Arkansas Gov Asa Hutchison (R) had promised to sign the law as soon as it reaches his desk. It reached his desk yesterday, but Hutchison announced in a news conference today that he is instead calling for changes in the bill. In a statement that acknowledges that the state RFRA’s supporters had been much less than honest in claiming that it mirrored the federal law, Hutchison called on the General Assembly to either recall the bill or amend it to bring it in line with federal law:
Hutchinson said he is asking that HB1228 be recalled so amendments can be added that bring it closer to the federal law. Or, he said, the changes could be made by new legislation. “The bill that is on my desk at the present time does not precisely mirror the federal law,” he said.
Senate President Jonathan Dismang (R-Searcy) and House Speaker Jeremy Gillam (R-Judsonia) stood alongside Hutchison when he made the announcement. Hutchison didn’t say whether he would veto the bill if changes weren’t made, but he did suggest another option of issuing an executive order “to make it clear that Arkansas wants to be a place of tolerance.” He acknowledged however that an order “would not be the same as a legislative fix.” As with Indiana, caution is in order. Without concrete proposals and specific language changes available, we will still have to wait to see whether this represents a true backtrack or another try at a pig’s makeover.
Hutchison also acknowledged that the controversy has deeply divided ths state — and his own family: his son signed an online petition calling on the Governor to veto the bill. Walmart, the state’s largest employer, along with several state chambers of commerce and mayors had earlier called for a veto.
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MattNYC
April 2nd, 2015
What is actually inspiring/intriguing is that Wal-Mart is on record as opposing the new law.
Not sure if it’s all a PR stunt or if new leadership in Bentonville has actually managed to change the course of the retail behemoth.
I suspect that it’s a combination of realizing just how bad their reputation is and the efforts by Target and Costco to try to set themselves up as the more ethical versions of Wal-Mart and Sam’s (some of this is real and some of it–especially w.r.t. Target–is just image), both chomping away at Wal-Mart Corporation’s market share.
Obviously, the Walton family only cares that their dividend checks arrive so they can pour them into their pet right-wing causes and/or their survivalist bunkers.
Wal-Mart had its “disruption” moment and now has to go along to get along like most every other business. Improving associates’ wages and benefits, speaking out on issues like this, helps. They’ll never adopt “Don’t Be Evil” as a Mission statement, but at least unofficially they must be thinking “Don’t Be A**holes”.
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