LANSING, MI (AP)-- Governor Rick Snyder says he would veto a religious-objections bill unless lawmakers also approve a bill extending anti-discrimination protections to gays.
The Republican governor for months has expressed skepticism with religious-objections legislation if there is no accompanying bill adding "sexual orientation" to Michigan's civil rights act.
On Thursday, he went a step further and told the Detroit Free Press he would veto any proposed Michigan Religious Freedom Restoration Act if it came to his desk as stand-alone legislation.
Snyder says he wanted to "clarify" his position given the controversy over neighboring Indiana's religious-objections law.
Republican Sen. Mike Shirkey of Clarklake has introduced a Michigan religious-objections bill modeled after a 1993 federal law, but it has not received a hearing in the Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee.