(Fox News) As the COVID-19 pandemic recedes, Republicans in the Virginia House of Delegates narrowly passed a bill to protect churches, synagogues, mosques and other religious bodies from any “rule, regulation, or order” from the governor or another government agency, a move to block the government-ordered closure of houses of worship that took place during the pandemic.
Yet Democrats in the Senate General Laws and Technology Committee blocked the bill on Monday.
Delegate Wren Williams, the sponsor of H.B. 775, called the bill “vital” for closing a “loophole” that threatens religious freedom.