Legislative

In our last update on the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), we asked all of our members and supporters to reach out to their legislators and tell them to reject any amendment that would create private school vouchers. Thanks in large part to that effort, we won the private school voucher fight! However, we ended up with a very different church-state fight on the floor.

Private School Vouchers - A Win Read more

The recent flood of state-level Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) bills continues. We oppose these bills because they could allow not just individuals, but also private corporations, to violate important laws—like non-discrimination, public safety, and public health protections—in the name of religion. This week there was both good news and bad news in the world of state RFRAs.

The good news Read more

Several state legislatures are pushing Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) bills, which many have dubbed “licenses to discriminate.” These bills could allow people to disregard non-discrimination, public safety, and public health laws in the name of religion. Here are some recent updates from on state RFRA bills:

Indiana Read more

Although the South Carolina legislature doesn’t officially convene until January 13^th, it has already pre-filed an onslaught of bills that could violate the separation of church and state.

Education Read more

Legislators rushed the Michigan Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), HB 5958, through both the House Judiciary Committee and full House in a floor vote with little notice yesterday. Read more

This morning, Michigan’s House Judiciary Committee discussed and voted out Speaker Jase Bolger’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) bill, HB 5958. Some members of the committee offered amendments, including one that would have prohibited the bill from being used to violate anti-discrimination or civil rights laws in Michigan, but no amendments were adopted. Read more

Same-sex marriage is now legal in 35 states due to a recent series of victories in the courts, legislatures, and ballot boxes. In response, some state legislatures are trying to come up with ways to push back against this trend. Read more

Today is voting day, and Americans United has been keeping an eye on a couple of ballot initiatives. Read more

The U.S. Department of Education released a report this week entitled, “Evaluation of the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program: An Early Look at Applicants and Participating Schools Under the SOAR Act.” Read more

The 46^th Annual PDK/Gallup Poll of the Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools came out in late August, illustrating public opinions about a variety of education issues. Two of the issues the Poll addressed are the public’s lack of support for private school vouchers and its misunderstanding about the fact that charter schools cannot teach religion. Read more