Bill Would Allow Organizations To Hire Based On Religion

Senate lawmakers Tuesday approved a bill allowing religious and faith-based organizations to hire employees based on religion.

Markle Republican Sen. Travis Holdman’s bill says organizations with a religious background that have contracts with state or local governments, such as universities, child care facilities and hospitals, can make hiring decisions based on religion. 

Holdman says the legislation would keep Indiana in line with federal law.

“It’s not a legal license to discriminate, to be bigoted, to do all those things from the negative sense," Holdman said. "It’s really just a carve-out that we have been practicing in the state of the Indiana already.”

But opponents note the legislation also says organizations can require employees or applicants to follow the religious tenets of that organization.  They say that part of the bill goes beyond federal law and leaves the state open to lawsuits. 

The bill passed 39-11, mostly along party lines, and now moves to the House.