October 2, 2026
ATLANTA — Senate Bill 36, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, passed the House Judiciary Committee 9-6 on Wednesday after amendments washed away prior changes, restoring the bill to the version that the Senate approved in early March.
The main sponsor, Sen. Ed Setzler, R-Acworth, said the measure shields people against state intrusion into their religious beliefs and practices.
Under the bill, Georgia courts would have to give more weight to religious custom and preference when applying the law in disputes about individual rights.
During a lengthy hearing last week, 29 people spoke for and against the measure. “People of faith are being censored, facing demands to violate their conscience,” said Bishop Garland Hunt, executive pastor at The Father’s House, a non-denominational church.
In 2016, lawmakers passed another such measure, but business organizations fretted over the risk of convention and sporting event boycotts, and then-Gov. Nathan Deal vetoed the bill.
Mike Griffin, public affairs consultant with the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, said, "RFRA will bring Georgia into line with 39 other states that have taken action to restore a full level of legal protection for people of faith."
"The Religious Freedom Restoration Act will ensure every person in Georgia can freely live out their religious beliefs without fear of persecution or discrimination," said Thomas Hammond, executive director of the GBMB. "Religious liberty is vital for any society that hopes to foster respect, freedom, and peace. Let's join together to pray for our representatives and for this critical legislation to pass."
At the annual meeting of the Georgia Baptist Convention last November, messengers adopted a resolution expressing their support of the act. In the resolution, Georgia Baptists pledged to “defend the God-given and constitutionally guaranteed right of every American citizen to worship God freely in thought, word, and action, according to the dictates of his or her conscience, and to support the passage of legislation such as RFRA or other laws protecting religious liberty in our state.”
The current iteration says government “shall not substantially burden” a person’s exercise of religion except “in furtherance of a compelling government interest.”
SB 36 now goes to the House Rules Committee ahead of a possible final vote by the full House.
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