Big retreat on California's SB 1146, but trouble may still loom ahead
The following quote may be attributed to Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Gregory S. Baylor regarding California State Sen. Ricardo Lara’s reported decision to amend the wording of the bill he is sponsoring, SB 1146, so that students attending private colleges and universities with profession-of-faith requirements and religious codes of conduct won’t automatically lose the ability to qualify for state scholarships; instead, the revised bill requires the schools to disclose their policies and report any expulsions under them to the government. Lara says he will continue examining the issue and may bring back the terms of the original bill next year:“Students shouldn’t have to forfeit critical financial aid programs in order to attend the religious college of their choice. And the government shouldn’t punish faith-based institutions of higher education for forming religious communities around shared religious beliefs. The modifications to SB 1146 eliminate its most damaging parts, but those may well return in the next legislative session. Supporters of religious liberty, educational opportunity, and freedom of choice must remain vigilant and oppose any legislation that undermines these indispensable freedoms.”
Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization that advocates for the right of people to freely live out their faith.
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ABOUT Gregory S. Baylor
Gregory S. Baylor serves as senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, where he is the director of the Center for Religious Schools and senior counsel with the Center for Public Policy. Since joining ADF in 2009, Baylor has focused on defending and advancing the religious freedom of faith-based educational institutions through advice, education, legislative and public advocacy, and representation in disputes. He has testified about religious liberty issues three times before congressional committees. Greg earned his Juris Doctor in 1990 from Duke University School of Law, where he graduated Order of the Coif, with high honors, and served on the editorial board of the Duke Law Journal. He received his bachelor’s degree in Honors English in 1987 from Dartmouth College. Following graduation from law school, he served as law clerk to the Hon. Jerry E. Smith on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit. He practiced labor and employment law at two large international law firms for three years before joining the staff of Christian Legal Society’s Center for Law and Religious Freedom, where he served for 15 years prior to joining ADF.