Late Wednesday night, the governor of Arizona, Jan Brewer, vetoed the bill that would have permitted businesses to legally refuse service to customers based on “religious freedom,” according to The Huffington Post.
The bill would have allowed businesses to discriminate against same-sex couples.
Brewer made the announcement via Twitter, saying, “Moments ago, I vetoed #SB1062.”
According to Brewer, the bill had “the potential to create more problems than it purports to solve.”
“Senate Bill 1062 does not address a specific or present concern related to religious liberty in Arizona,” she said. “I have not heard one example where business owners’ religious liberty has been violated.”
The bill was passed last week by the state legislature, but has been under fire in the past handful of days by lawmakers, activists and business owners alike in the state and across the country. Jeff Flake and John McCain, the two Republican senators for the state of Arizona, pleaded with Brewer to veto the bill. Opposition for the bill from businesses came from companies such as Apple, Marriott and American Airlines.
With the Super Bowl scheduled for Glendale in 2015, businesses in the Phoenix area were very concerned about the bill. On Monday, the Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee spoke out against the bill, saying, “[W]e have heard loud and clear from our various stakeholders that adoption of this legislation would not only run contrary to that goal but deal a significant blow to the state’s economic growth potential. We do not support this legislation.”
