The Los Angeles Times is reporting that the bill's sponsor, Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens), is dropping a provision that would have removed a religious exemption to anti-discrimination laws for faith-based schools.
 
Shirley Hoogstra, president of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, told CBN News last month that the bill would have used the leverage of state financial aid to try and prevent faith-based schools from using religious beliefs as criteria in admissions and hiring decisions.
 
"If you can't hire the people who are going to teach and administrate according to your principles, what difference does it make if you called yourself a particular religious institution?" she said.
 
Greg Baylor, an attorney with the conservative non-profit Alliance Defending Freedom, explained, "the California government is proposing this legislation that would at the end of the day force these schools to choose between participating in state student aid programs and maintaining their religious identity."
 
Watch CBN's original story on the California bill that could deny state funds to students wanting to attend Christian schools.
 
Dr. John Jackson, president of William Jessup University, a Christian college outside of Sacramento, said that Sen. Lara plans to formally amend the bill in the Senate appropriations committee on Thursday. (Photo: William Jessup University students praying/via Jessup.edu) 
 
"We can support a bill that's about transparency and reporting as long as it's not about Cal Grants," he told CBN News.
 
Cal Grants provide as much as $10,000 a year to low-income students attending California colleges and universities.
 
The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty called Lara's latest move a big win for low-income, minority students in California. The bill would have cut their state aid to Christian colleges that uphold what the state considers to be discriminatory beliefs.
 
"Minority students have spoken and the politicians have listened," Montserrat Alvarado, with the Becket Fund, said. "This is a huge win for progress and diversity in higher education."
 
Alvarado said that three out of four Cal Grant recipients at faith-based schools are low-income minorities.
 
Sen. Lara told the Los Angeles Times that he will move forward with an amended bill that requires faith-based schools to publicly disclose their religious exemption and report to the state when they expel students for violating their standards of conduct.
 
"The goal for me has always been to shed light on the appalling and unacceptable discrimination against LGBT students at these private religious institutions throughout California," Lara said.
 
But Hoogstra told CBN News last month that Lara does not have a case.
 
"Never did they go to the Christian college campuses and actually ask for facts," she said. "They presumed that people are either expelled or somehow denied admissions which is untrue."
 
Just this week a group of high-profile faith leaders signed a statement opposing the bill. They include Saddleback Church pastor Rick Warren and Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention.
 
Moore said the bill "seeks to suppress and undermine dissent, harming students along the way.  
 
Applying legal or political pressure on institutions that disagree with the cultural majority of the moment is not merely unwise or unfair--it is un-American."
 
Jackson told CBN News that pressure from a coalition of faith-based schools likely made the difference on this bill. He said of Sen. Lara, "he's become very aware that the religious liberty concerns about this bill are huge."
 
Jackson also said Lara has promised to come back in the next legislative session with a more comprehensive bill.
 
"We don't think this is the end of it," he said.

To receive daily emails from Breaking Christian News to your inbox CLICK HERE

Hundreds Accept Jesus Christ in Poland at Franklin Graham Rally

Grammy-Winning Christian Artist Mandisa Has Died: Report

How You Can Send Letters of Encouragement to Jailed Pro-Life Heroes

'Americans Cannot Allow the Biden Administration to Sign Away Their Birthright': Congressmen Warn of WHO Pandemic Agreement

Illegal Immigrants Being Moved into Soldiers' Home Where Veterans Must Pay to Stay

House Democrats Vow to Codify 'Rights' to Trans Surgeries, Hormones, Puberty Blockers

18-Year-Old Female Trans Student Charged for Planning Two Maryland School Shootings, Manifesto Said She Wanted to Be 'Famous'

Israel Strikes Deep Inside Iran, Nuclear Facilities NOT Hit

An Important Message from Japan to the world about the WHO, Japan and the Next So-called 'Vaccine'

Rand Paul: Brave Marine Revealed that 15 US Agencies Knew COVID-19 Was Created in Lab in 2018; But They Kept It Secret from American Public (VIDEO)

Confirmed: Researchers Reveal COVID mRNA Vaccines Contain Component that Suppresses Immune Response and Stimulates Cancer Growth

Farmers, Truckers Warn California Emissions Mandates Will Cause 'Catastrophic' Supply Chain Crisis

Fed Court Overturns State Law Protecting Women's Sports from 'Transgender' Athletes

Furry Infestation: Middle School Students Walk Out in Protest after School Leaders Allow 'Furries' to Terrorize Them (VIDEO)

Biden's Education Secretary Vows to Shut Down the Largest Christian University in the US

US to Back Rafah Op in Exchange for Israel Dropping Major Iran Strike; Report

Schumer Succeeds in Killing Off Mayorkas Impeachment Trial before It Can Even Begin

California Town Tears Down Beloved Hillside Cross

Danielle Smith Again Defends Alberta's Coming Ban on Transgender Mutilation of Children

Detransitioners: We Were Pushed to Transition as Teens, Now We're 'Vindicated' By Study Showing Kids Grow Out of It