Here’s a roundup of the top secular issue bills headed for committee in the Arizona state legislature this week. Continue reading
School vouchers exposed… again
With just three weeks until the deadline to turn in signatures for Save Our Schools’ voucher expansion referendum, school vouchers are exploding on the news. Here’s why: Continue reading
Top four things to bring up when talking about school vouchers
We’ve been talking a lot with our neighbors lately about the issue of school vouchers. If there’s one thing we’ve learned after hundreds of these conversations, it’s this:
Not nearly enough people understand vouchers. Continue reading
AZ’s primary: what the results mean for separation of church and state
The votes are in. This primary, Republicans shifted harder toward the religious right, but Democrats pushed out some legislators who were soft on Christian nationalism. The balance of power in the Legislature may be decided by five races. And conspiracy theorists are vying for control of major statewide offices.
Here are the top results secular supporters need to know: Continue reading
The State of Secular Government in the 2022 Arizona Legislature
The Fifty-fifth Legislature tested whether the separation of church and state will change from constitutional protection to a constitutional violation. There are two cases to be made in the aftermath of this session. First, the state of secular government in Arizona is strong thanks to Democrats who mostly (though not always) heeded constitutional mandates barring the establishment of religion. Second, the state of secular government in Arizona is weak thanks to Republicans who are resolved to promote their faith in every area of public life. The outcome of the 2022 Midterm Elections will decide whether the state of Arizona is governed as a democracy or a theocracy—and it rests upon the civic participation of secular voters and citizens who value fundamental civil liberties.
What June at the Supreme Court meant for church and state—in plain English.
The Supreme Court ruled on a number of cases this month that will significantly reshape our country. There’s been a lot to keep track of, so here’s the roundup of the top ones impacting our movement and what they mean: Continue reading
Legislative roundup 3/4/22
Secular AZ is continuing to work against numerous bills granting harmful religious exemptions and . Here’s a breakdown of what happened last week, and what’s coming up: Continue reading
Legislative Roundup 2/26/22
Secular AZ is continuing to work against numerous bills granting harmful religious exemptions, attacks on minorities, and more. Here’s a breakdown of what happened last week, and what’s coming up: Continue reading
Legislative Update
Secular AZ testified in committee about the below bills last week, each of which sought to advance the interests of Christian nationalism. Here’s what each bill did and what happened:
Our View From Opening Day at the Legislature 2022
On Monday, Governor Ducey delivered his final State of the State speech, and Secular AZ Board Member Sami Al-Asady and I were able to attend as guests of Representative Andrea Dalessandro. This was not the first SOTS I’ve attended, and it wasn’t much different than speeches given in years past. Continue reading
State budget set to reflect Christian nationalist priorities
Voting resumed at the State Capitol this week after a long deadlock over the state budget.
This was an intense week. The majority party pushed through a budget that was neither discussed with nor vetted with the rest of the Legislature. This included several pieces of contentious Christian nationalist legislation that had previously failed as individual bills. Continue reading