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House committee concurs with Senate amendment to HB 1669 to enshrine adoption agencies' religious protections
Summary
A House committee agreed to concur in a Senate amendment to House Bill 1669, a measure that would codify current policy protecting adoption agencies and foster parents who cite religious objections. An amendment from the attorney general's office clarified that the state’s sovereign immunity would not be abolished in full.
A House committee this morning voted to concur in Senate Amendment 1 to House Bill 1669, a measure that would put into statute the state's policy protecting adoption agencies' and foster parents' exercise of religious beliefs.
The bill's sponsor, State Representative Mary Bentley, District 54, told the committee the amendment was submitted at the request of the attorney general's office to ensure the change would not abolish Arkansas' sovereign immunity. "The AG's office asked me to run this amendment for them to make sure that we do not abolish... our state sovereign's immunity. So that's what we're doing," Bentley said during committee discussion.
Representative Springer questioned the draft language after consulting a printed copy of the bill, saying a line he read appeared to waive sovereign immunity. Staff and Bentley explained that the amendment language had already been engrossed on the Senate side and that reading page and line numbers from different versions could cause confusion. Bentley and the chair advised Springer to read the full subsection before concluding the language's effect.
Committee members then moved to concur in the Senate amendment; the motion carried on a voice vote. Committee members noted the bill had already been considered on the Senate side and that the Department of Human Services had not opposed the measure. "They have not opposed the bill yet," Bentley said when asked about DHS.
Bentley framed the bill as intended to protect Arkansas adoption agencies and foster parents from policies in other states that would bar religiously motivated agencies or individuals from placing or fostering children. "We wanna make sure in Arkansas that's not gonna happen," she said.
The committee recorded no roll-call vote in the transcript; the chair announced that the ayes had it and the amendment had passed. The bill will advance according to the Legislature's process.
