GRANTED, I wish something like this could even reach a governor’s desk in my state, but what’s going on with Southern Governors giving in the past year or so on certain issues?
I think its ultimately about big business and jobs.
The corporate elites want Southern states to give into their demands.
One example is First Amendment protection for gay marriage dissenters.
The Republican governors have complied starting with Donald Trump supporter Jan Brewer in AZ in 2014 and Marco Rubio supporter Asa Hutchinson in AR last year along with the Cruz supporting Mike Pence in Indiana.
Pat McCrory of NC vetoed protective legislation for government officials who oppose gay marriage last year (I think that’s one reason he’s stepped into the transgender access to restroom issue in his re-election year).
This year Nathan Deal vetoed First Amendment legislation to protect freedom of religion for churches and religious groups who dissent from gay marriage.
As far as the Second Amendment, read this story from Oklahoma posted on FR the other week as their State Senate passed 2A legislation with the usual laundry list of business opponents like pro sports teams and chambers of commerce.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3423118/posts?page=1
I’m not fond of Deal at all, really. Even as he was my congressman once before running for Governor, he still had that smack, that air about him that just smelled like Saxby Chambliss, the former Senator who figured out he was done and retired.
That said, what I think really got to him was the University System of Georgia and the respective Presidents of at least two of the major universities: Georgia Tech and University of Georgia.
My guess is that both these two reminded Deal that the two together have nearly $1.5 billion in yearly government contracted research and grants and that it would be in jeopardy because of this federal government using grants and contract as the social justice carrot.
Simply put, the main impetus I think was money, or threat to take away the money.