Does RFRA Overshadow The 2015 Legislative Session?

Republican lawmakers and the governor say while the controversy around the religious freedom law overshadowed a part of the session, they’re confident its shadow will fade over time.  But, Democrats say the damage is lasting.

Gov. Mike Pence says he regrets not being able to foresee the controversy that erupted over the religious freedom law known as RFRA.

“And as I’ve said, I regret the difficulty that Indiana passed through during a time of great misunderstanding about the Religious Freedom Restoration Act,” Pence said.

But he and GOP legislative leaders all say that the way lawmakers, in the wake of the RFRA fallout, finished the session by accomplishing their priorities shows that Indiana will move forward. 

House Minority Leader Scott Pelath says he’s taking away a different lesson: that 2015 is the beginning of the end of the Republican’s legislative supermajorities.

“Because the people of Indiana have seen the results of a single party stranglehold on state government and they are not pretty,” he said.

Democrats say the only way to truly repair Indiana’s image is to protect LGBT Hoosiers in the state’s civil rights statute, a debate they say Republicans won’t commit to having.