EDITORIAL: State must waste millions after religious freedom act mess

That’s the amount the state’s economic development and tourism agencies announced they will spend to hire the international public relations company Porter Novelli to buff up Indiana’s tarnished image. And that doesn’t include the cost of purchasing actual advertising.

Pence and lawmakers closed their eyes and ears to criticism as they passed the act, which critics said would allow discrimination of gay and lesbian Hoosiers based on an argument of religious freedom. A national firestorm of complaints about the law followed, as lawmakers argued they weren’t trying to discriminate but rather enhance the security of religious liberty.

They lost badly in the court of public opinion and dragged the entire state through the mud with them. By the time the Legislature passed clarifying legislation, and the governor signed it, much damage had been done.

Now, money that could well have been earmarked in other ways must be spent to try to rebuild the state’s reputation as a welcoming place.

A public relations campaign can’t hurt. However, the very need for it is another dispiriting chapter in this total failure of leadership.