Post by Logan on Mar 17, 2016 4:39:53 GMT -6
Attorney General's Office gives legal OK to bill that would block state from punishing faith-based foster care groups for same-sex couple denial
LINCOLN — A bill to protect public funding for Nebraska faith-based groups that decline to place foster children with same-sex couples complies with federal and state law, the attorney general said Wednesday.
Although such faith-based organizations contract with the state for public funds, they remain private agencies, not “state actors,” according to an opinion written by Attorney General Doug Peterson and Chief Deputy Attorney General David Bydalek.
The agencies therefore can operate in accord with their “sincerely held religious beliefs,” the opinion stated. That could include placing children exclusively with opposite-sex married couples who attend certain Christian churches.
State Sen. Mark Kolterman of Seward, who introduced and prioritized Legislative Bill 975, said it was “absurd” to claim that his proposal would jeopardize federal funding by allowing state-sanctioned discrimination.
Read more: www.omaha.com/news/legislature/attorney-general-s-office-gives-legal-ok-to-bill-that/article_3fcbd217-ce54-5ade-9abf-c3af37432bee.html
LINCOLN — A bill to protect public funding for Nebraska faith-based groups that decline to place foster children with same-sex couples complies with federal and state law, the attorney general said Wednesday.
Although such faith-based organizations contract with the state for public funds, they remain private agencies, not “state actors,” according to an opinion written by Attorney General Doug Peterson and Chief Deputy Attorney General David Bydalek.
The agencies therefore can operate in accord with their “sincerely held religious beliefs,” the opinion stated. That could include placing children exclusively with opposite-sex married couples who attend certain Christian churches.
State Sen. Mark Kolterman of Seward, who introduced and prioritized Legislative Bill 975, said it was “absurd” to claim that his proposal would jeopardize federal funding by allowing state-sanctioned discrimination.
Read more: www.omaha.com/news/legislature/attorney-general-s-office-gives-legal-ok-to-bill-that/article_3fcbd217-ce54-5ade-9abf-c3af37432bee.html