LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A bill to limit restrictions on churches passed a Kentucky House committee Thursday.Â
House Bill 43 would exclude houses of worship from emergency shutdowns from the government.
Sponsors of the bill said shutdowns put churches on an unlevel playing field during the COVID-19 pandemic in which they had to close while big box stores could stay open.
The bill's sponsors also argued churches should be considered essential. But opponents voted against the bill, some citing legal reasons while others said the bill isn't needed.
"Now we're saying to tell you what to do with your faith. That's one area we can't abide, so I'm voting no," said Rep. Pamela Stevenson, D-Louisville. "Because we've already addressed this, and I think we followed what the rest of the Bible said, 'to take care of the least of these, to feed them, to clothe them.' We'd get to this, and this is not the way to do it."
In the end, the bill passed during a hearing Thursday. It now heads to the full House for consideration.
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