Local governments in Arkansas can't bar gay discrimination as a result of new law
A new law in Arkansas bars local governments from enacting discrimination protections for gay people.
The law, set to take effect this summer, was enacted on Monday when Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson neither signed nor vetoed the measure, report the Washington Post and Arkansas Online. Hutchinson, a Republican, was elected in 2014.
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, also a Republican, had vetoed a similar measure last year.
Challenging the Arkansas law in court could “prove tricky,” the Washington Post says. The law doesn’t specifically mention gays; rather it says cities and counties in Arksansas cannot enact protections against bias that are more stringent than state law. The stated purpose of the bill is to ensure that businesses are subject to uniform nondiscrimination laws.
