He wants it to mirror federal law.
If it is to mirror federal law, then why is it needed? Why not just default the issue to federal law? Federal law already trumps state law.
Your question is all that needs to be said!!!! You’re exactly right.
From a purely technical perspective, the Federal religious freedom act only applies to Federal actions; the courts have ruled that it doesn’t apply down to the states.
What the Gov is doing here, by asking that it mirror Federal law is a cya maneuver. Remember that the issue Progs are raising about the IN law is that it’s “different” than the Federal one. It doesn’t matter that the difference is pretty trivial (allowing religious freedom to be used in court as a legal defense against private-party discrimination suits), the fact that there IS a difference allows that difference to be exploited for political purposes.
The federal RFA doesn’t apply to the states according to some case.