Immediately after Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) announced that he was sending a controversial religious freedom bill back to the state legislature, the mayor of Sacramento said Hutchinson did the right thing.
Kudos to Gov @AsaHutchinson for asking for changes in #HB1228. Big win for inclusion and diversity in Arkansas.
— Kevin Johnson (@KJ_MayorJohnson) April 1, 2015
Hutchinson, at a press conference on Wednesday, said he asked the state legislature to make changes to the legislation so that it more closely mirrored the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993.
When Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) defended his decision to sign a much-criticized religious freedom bill into law he repeatedly referred to Democrats supporting the federal version of the law. Opponents argue that that law is designed to allow businesses to discriminate against gay people.
Pence has been under widespread criticism by businesses with national stakes in Indiana for signing the law. Some of those figures, like Apple CEO Tim Cook, warned Arkansas to not copy Indiana and quickly sign a religious freedom bill into law.