Nisly, Mishler Speak At Third House Session Meeting
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Jennifer [email protected]
The meeting was at Center Lake Pavilion and sponsored by Kosciusko County Chamber of Commerce, Century Link, Freedom Oil, Good Oil and Warsaw Parks Department.
The Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Senate Bill 101, was passed by the Republican-controlled State Senate and House and signed by Governor Mike Pence Thursday. Nisly co-sponsored the bill.
Nisly said it prohibits a government entity from substantially burdening a person’s exercise of religion, unless a government entity can demonstrate the burden furthers a compelling government interest and is the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling interest.
“It tells the courts when you have a situation where there is a religious freedom versus another kind of right that conflict with each other, there are steps to go through to solve it,” Nisly said.
He said there must be a government entity involved for the act to apply, such as state law or a local ordinance. He added that if a genuine religious belief is being limited, there must be a compelling government interest to do so and it has to be done in the least restrictive way possible.
Mishler said people are trying to make the act a same-sex issue, but it isn’t.
“When the proponents brought this up the two things were the Notre Dame and Hobby Lobby cases based on contraception, not same sex. It had nothing to do with same-sex marriage,” Mishler said.
“I have asked people to bring me something that says this is discriminating against someone and no one has brought us any evidence that anyone has been discriminated against,” he said.
During a question-and-answer session, local attorney David Kolbe asked if Jews are discriminated against by denying them service under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
Nisly said one of the factors in the act is that there must be a law that is broken, and if there is a law that says you must serve Jews then it doesn’t apply.
Brian Smith said there was a photographer in New Mexico who did not want to photograph a same-sex wedding and the two men sued the photographer and were awarded damages. The Religious Freedom Restoration Act did not protect the photographer, he said.
Smith asked if the photographer in Indiana would be liable for damages if he decided to not photograph a same-sex marriage even under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act or would they be protected from paying damages. Nisly said he does not know what the courts will do, but there is now a process under the act to decide if it is a Freedom Restoration Act case or not.
Mishler also spoke about the budget and said the Senate will start coming in on the weekends to work on it. There will be a budget forecast put out in April. The budget committee will review the budget April 9. Within the budget is K-12 funding, which is over 50 percent of the budget that Mishler said he works on.
Mishler also spoke about the Regional Cities initiative and said it involves St. Joseph, Elkhart, Marshal and Kosciusko counties. It is a partnership between the counties to raise private funds and the state would match those funds.
“The economy is regional and you have to work together to grow,” Mishler said.
Nisly said the House is also working on the budget.
“Our goal is to have a balanced budget with no gimmicks or tricks in it and maintain our good credit rating and fund schools,” Nisly said.
Nisly also said he co-authored Senate Bill 433 on shotguns that repeals the prohibition against manufacturing, importing, selling or possessing a short-barreled shotgun.
Dan Brown, Phend & Brown, attended the meeting asking for an update on the common construction wage legislation.
Mishler said the Senate will review it Tuesday, and Nisly said he voted no on repealing the common construction wage bill.
A question also was asked about annexation. Mishler said he voted against the Senate version of the annexation bill and the bill died in the House.
“It would almost tie the mayors’ hands for growth,” Mishler said.
Another question was for an update on ethics reform. Nisly said the House passed the ethics bill.
“It was taking ethics, and instead of making it a separate document, making it part of the rules of the house,” Nisly said.
The next House Session meeting is May 7 at 8 a.m. at Center Lake Pavilion.
A Spring 2015 Meet The Candidates event for mayor, Warsaw clerk-treasurer and city council at-large will be April 23 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at Lakeview Middle School, 848 E. Smith St., Warsaw.[[In-content Ad]]
The meeting was at Center Lake Pavilion and sponsored by Kosciusko County Chamber of Commerce, Century Link, Freedom Oil, Good Oil and Warsaw Parks Department.
The Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Senate Bill 101, was passed by the Republican-controlled State Senate and House and signed by Governor Mike Pence Thursday. Nisly co-sponsored the bill.
Nisly said it prohibits a government entity from substantially burdening a person’s exercise of religion, unless a government entity can demonstrate the burden furthers a compelling government interest and is the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling interest.
“It tells the courts when you have a situation where there is a religious freedom versus another kind of right that conflict with each other, there are steps to go through to solve it,” Nisly said.
He said there must be a government entity involved for the act to apply, such as state law or a local ordinance. He added that if a genuine religious belief is being limited, there must be a compelling government interest to do so and it has to be done in the least restrictive way possible.
Mishler said people are trying to make the act a same-sex issue, but it isn’t.
“When the proponents brought this up the two things were the Notre Dame and Hobby Lobby cases based on contraception, not same sex. It had nothing to do with same-sex marriage,” Mishler said.
“I have asked people to bring me something that says this is discriminating against someone and no one has brought us any evidence that anyone has been discriminated against,” he said.
During a question-and-answer session, local attorney David Kolbe asked if Jews are discriminated against by denying them service under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
Nisly said one of the factors in the act is that there must be a law that is broken, and if there is a law that says you must serve Jews then it doesn’t apply.
Brian Smith said there was a photographer in New Mexico who did not want to photograph a same-sex wedding and the two men sued the photographer and were awarded damages. The Religious Freedom Restoration Act did not protect the photographer, he said.
Smith asked if the photographer in Indiana would be liable for damages if he decided to not photograph a same-sex marriage even under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act or would they be protected from paying damages. Nisly said he does not know what the courts will do, but there is now a process under the act to decide if it is a Freedom Restoration Act case or not.
Mishler also spoke about the budget and said the Senate will start coming in on the weekends to work on it. There will be a budget forecast put out in April. The budget committee will review the budget April 9. Within the budget is K-12 funding, which is over 50 percent of the budget that Mishler said he works on.
Mishler also spoke about the Regional Cities initiative and said it involves St. Joseph, Elkhart, Marshal and Kosciusko counties. It is a partnership between the counties to raise private funds and the state would match those funds.
“The economy is regional and you have to work together to grow,” Mishler said.
Nisly said the House is also working on the budget.
“Our goal is to have a balanced budget with no gimmicks or tricks in it and maintain our good credit rating and fund schools,” Nisly said.
Nisly also said he co-authored Senate Bill 433 on shotguns that repeals the prohibition against manufacturing, importing, selling or possessing a short-barreled shotgun.
Dan Brown, Phend & Brown, attended the meeting asking for an update on the common construction wage legislation.
Mishler said the Senate will review it Tuesday, and Nisly said he voted no on repealing the common construction wage bill.
A question also was asked about annexation. Mishler said he voted against the Senate version of the annexation bill and the bill died in the House.
“It would almost tie the mayors’ hands for growth,” Mishler said.
Another question was for an update on ethics reform. Nisly said the House passed the ethics bill.
“It was taking ethics, and instead of making it a separate document, making it part of the rules of the house,” Nisly said.
The next House Session meeting is May 7 at 8 a.m. at Center Lake Pavilion.
A Spring 2015 Meet The Candidates event for mayor, Warsaw clerk-treasurer and city council at-large will be April 23 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at Lakeview Middle School, 848 E. Smith St., Warsaw.[[In-content Ad]]
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