Citing religious refusal of adoption rule, California bans state travel to TexasCalifornia state agencies, universities and commissions won't be allowed to send their employees to Texas after the California attorney general declare a Texas law discriminatory. by Matthew Watkins June 22, 2017 6:34 PM Saying that a new Texas law allowing child welfare providers to deny adoptions to parents based on "sincerely held religious beliefs" is discriminatory, California's attorney general on Thursday banned state-funded travel to Texas.
The attorney general's office said in a news release that Texas' House Bill 3859 "allows foster care agencies to discriminate against children in foster care and potentially disqualify LGBT families from the state’s foster and adoption system." Therefore, California agencies, public universities and boards won't be able to pay for their employees or board members to travel to Texas for work-related trips, the state's attorney general declared.
"While the California DOJ works to protect the rights of all our people, discriminatory laws in any part of our country send all of us several steps back," said Xavier Becerra, the California attorney general. "That's why when California said we would not tolerate discrimination against LGBTQ members of our community, we meant it."
The decision drew a mocking response from the office of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican who signed the bill into law this month.
"California may be able to stop their state employees," said Abbott spokesman John Wittman, "but they can’t stop all the businesses that are fleeing over taxation and regulation, and relocating to Texas."
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https://www.texastribune.org/2017/06/22/citing-religious-refusal-adoption-rule-california-bans-state-travel-te/