People who warned that passing a religious freedom restoration act in West Virginia would have led to dire repercussions now can point to backlash against anti-LGBT bills in Georgia and North Carolina as evidence.
West Virginia, like many other states, considered a religious freedom restoration act during the last legislative session. While many other states have a similar law, the bills have become the subject of controversy since same-sex marriage became legal, and some supporters of the bill openly said the bill was meant to target the LGBT community.
After weeks of contentious debate, state senators rejected the bill on a 27-7 vote after it had passed the House of Delegates.
The bill would have established a legal process for courts to follow when people or businesses believed governmental action was violating their religious beliefs. Civil rights advocates opposed the bill because "governmental action" could have included civil rights laws, including local nondiscrimination ordinances that extend protections to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender residents.
Jill Rice, who led a coalition of businesses and groups that opposed the bill called Opportunity WV, said that current reaction to similar legislation in North Carolina and Georgia could easily have happened in West Virginia.
"I feel like we dodged a bullet," she said.
Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal vetoed a similar bill in his state a week ago. The National Football League had warned the legislation could risk Atlanta's chances to host the Super Bowl, and numerous corporations had urged the governor to veto the bill. Some threatened to stop investment in Georgia. Hollywood film studios also said they would stop filming in Georgia.
Last month, North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory signed a bill that prevents transgender people from using public bathrooms appropriate for their gender identity and bans cities and counties from passing measures to protect people based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Since then, the state has faced backlash from numerous corporations, including IBM, Apple, American Airlines and Paypal. Several states and cities have banned publicly funded travel to the state. More than 120 CEOs and business leaders have signed a letter urging the repeal of the law.
"It was borne out in Indiana and now it is bearing true in North Carolina and Georgia," Rice said. "I think people need to understand that what's happening in these other states is exactly what Opportunity West Virginia assured the Legislature would happen."
Indiana passed a similar bill in March 2015. Chris Gahl, vice president of marketing and communications for Visit Indy, said that Indianapolis lost $60 million when 12 conventions cited the legislation and chose not to locate there.
Delegate Andrew Byrd, D-Kanawha, also predicted that the state would see economic repercussions if the bill passed. He noted the money lost in Indiana in a meeting of House Judiciary when he motioned to postpone the bill indefinitely.
"You've got Charleston, which is developing and revitalizing its Civic Center," Byrd said Friday. "We don't want to pass something like this and dust bunnies be flowing through the Civic Center."
Andrew Schneider, executive director of LGBT rights group Fairness West Virginia, also noted that opponents warned of economic effects during the session.
"It was very clear that this was going to be bad for the state," he said, "so clear that the proponents of it tripped over themselves trying to claim that it wasn't going to be bad for business, unsuccessfully so and thankfully so because clearly it is terrible for business."
He suggested that since the nation seems to be paying attention to LGBT rights bills, West Virginia lawmakers should take advantage of that and add sexual orientation and gender identity to the state's Human Rights Act.
"The West Virginia Division of Tourism couldn't come up with any better promotional campaign than passing a nondiscrimination bill," he said.
Senate Minority Leader Jeff Kessler, D-Marshall, said that killing the bill was "sound economic policy in a state that desperately needs to attract new business."
"This may be the only good thing we did all year and it wasn't anything we passed," Kessler said. "It was something we killed. The last thing we need is to lay out an unwelcome mat."
Sen. Corey Palumbo, D-Kanawha, said he hopes West Virginia lawmakers learn from Georgia and North Carolina.
"If we don't learn from what happened in other states that had their own self-imposed black eyes and put this black eye on ourselves next year, then honestly, shame on us," he said.
Reach Erin Beck at erin.beck@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5163 or follow @erinbeckwv on Twitter.