Eroding Religious Liberty to Play Favorites

The Family Institute of Connecticut is closely monitoring a newly raised bill SB 450, Section 13, that appears designed to give Attorney General Tong a legislative bailout in an ongoing religious liberty case currently before the courts. There will be a public hearing soon.

To secure this outcome, the Public Health Committee is proposing changes that would weaken Connecticut’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act (C.G.S. § 52-771b).

Religious liberty is a foundational civil right — one that protects every house of worship, faith-based ministry, and individual believer in Connecticut. Any effort to weaken these protections in order to score a judicial victory should concern all citizens, regardless of denomination or political affiliation. Churches, religious organizations, and people of faith should remain vigilant and fully engaged whenever these rights are at risk. FIC will keep you updated. Please encourage every person you know who cares about religious liberty to join our e-mail list.

See who your legislator is in your Election Center and how they voted in Committee on February 18, 2026 [record will be attached when available] but it was basically all Democrats on the Committee and Representative Carpino, a Republican. A video of the proceedings is also available here.

Sec. 52-571b. Action or defense authorized when state or political subdivision burdens a person’s exercise of religion. (a) The state or any political subdivision of the state shall not burden a person’s exercise of religion under section 3 of article first of the Constitution of the state even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability, except as provided in subsection (b) of this section.

(b) The state or any political subdivision of the state may burden a person’s exercise of religion only if it demonstrates that application of the burden to the person (1) is in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest, and (2) is the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental interest.

(c) A person whose exercise of religion has been burdened in violation of the provisions of this section may assert that violation as a claim or defense in a judicial proceeding and obtain appropriate relief against the state or any political subdivision of the state.

(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize the state or any political subdivision of the state to burden any religious belief.

(e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect, interpret or in any way address that portion of article seventh of the Constitution of the state that prohibits any law giving a preference to any religious society or denomination in the state. The granting of government funding, benefits or exemptions, to the extent permissible under the Constitution of the state, shall not constitute a violation of this section. As used in this subsection, the term “granting” does not include the denial of government funding, benefits or exemptions.

(f) For the purposes of this section, “state or any political subdivision of the state” includes any agency, board, commission, department, officer or employee of the state or any political subdivision of the state, and “demonstrates” means meets the burdens of going forward with the evidence and of persuasion.

(P.A. 93-252.)