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2012 Legislative Wrap Up

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2012 Legislative Wrap Up January 2012 – May 2012 Secular Coalition for Arizona PO Box 19258 Phoenix, AZ 85005 www.secularAZ.org 602-363-8018 General Activities and 50th Legislature 2nd Session Wrap Up - 2012 Contents Overview ................................................................................................................................................... 1 Legislative Affairs ....................................................................................................................................... 1 Bills Opposed by SC Arizona ................................................................................................................ 2 Bills Supported by SC Arizona .............................................................................................................. 8 Lobby Efforts in Washington, DC ......................................................................................................... 9 Secular Coalition for America Lobby Day Issues .................................................................................. 9 Government Affairs ................................................................................................................................. 10 Equality in the State Bar of Arizona ................................................................................................... 10 Center for Arizona Policy ................................................................................................................... 11 SC Arizona Asks IRS to Investigate CAP .............................................................................................. 11 Inside SC Arizona ..................................................................................................................................... 12 Meet Our Team! ................................................................................................................................ 12 Our Growing Coalition ....................................................................................................................... 13 SC Arizona in the Community .................................................................................................................. 15 Events ................................................................................................................................................ 15 Public Appearances by SC Arizona Directors ..................................................................................... 15 Social Media and Communication ..................................................................................................... 16 Media Coverage ................................................................................................................................. 17 Summary ................................................................................................................................................. 17 Secular Coalition for Arizona Page: II January 2012 – May 2012 General Activities and 50th Legislature 2nd Session Wrap Up - 2012 Overview The Fiftieth Arizona Legislature – Second Regular Session – convened on January 9, 2012 and adjourned May 3, 2012. Secular Coalition for Arizona once again made history this year at the start of session when we became the first state-level nontheistic lobby organization in the nation with a professional Executive Director and lobbyist. Legislatively, this meant that we were able to be present full-time at the Capitol making sure Arizona’s nontheistic citizens—atheists, agnostics, Humanists and freethinkers—were being represented during the public policy making process. We were able to talk directly to lawmakers, testify in committee hearings at the State Senate and House of Representatives, correspond regularly with legislators, submit written comments to public record—and persuade elected officials to change the language of legislation that privileged religious belief and practice. We are also in the process of getting to know the 2012 candidates for state and local office in Arizona, and we will be working with them to ensure they understand the issues important to the nontheistic community. The Religious Right, led by the conservative Christian Center for Arizona Policy (CAP)—one of the most powerful lobby groups in Arizona—continued to make history as well, passing some of the most religiously motivated, anti-secular legislation in the country. This year, however, we were able to powerfully and consistently oppose CAP’s bills at every step in the legislative process—and despite our underdog position and CAP’s ultimate success, we had multiple victories. Legislative Affairs The Secular Coalition for Arizona actively opposes bills and legislative activities that privilege religion, religious convictions, or a sect of religion in law over nonreligion, convictions of conscience, or other religions. We support bills that protect, strengthen, and rebuild the separation of state and church. SC Arizona identified and lobbied against 18 bills and resolutions this past session that represented a threat to secularism, 14 of which were conceived and/or supported by the CAP, and 9 which have since been signed by Governor Brewer and become law. SC Arizona identified and lobbied in support of 5 bills this past session, none of which became law. Secular Coalition for Arizona’s Policy Advocacy (SB = Senate Bill; SCR = Senate Concurrent Resolution; HB = House Bill) Secular Coalition for Arizona Page: 1 January 2012 – May 2012 General Activities and 50th Legislature 2nd Session Wrap Up - 2012 Bills Opposed by SC Arizona SB 1009 “Schools; Preference; Childbirth; Adoption” This bill requires public schools to teach childbirth and adoption as preferable to abortion—a state- sponsored endorsement of a particular religious viewpoint that may conflict with medical advice or a student’s own best interest. Actions Taken Outcome • Submitted Comments in opposition to the • Passed by the Legislature and signed into law Senate Education Committee by Governor Brewer • Two Action Alerts distributed SCR 1013 “Commending Israel” This resolution expresses the Arizona State Legislature’s support for Israel based on the rationale that God granted the land to the Jewish people in the book of Leviticus. Actions Taken Outcome • Social media campaign • Unanimously adopted by the Senate • Held in the House SB 1047/1048 “Tax Credit; School Tuition Organizations” These bills expand school tax credits that divert money from the public coffers and into religious schools. Actions Taken Outcome • Submitted comments in opposition to • SB 1047 and 1048 were combined into one SB 1047 to the Senate Finance Committee bill and were passed by the Legislature and • Testified in opposition to SB 1048 in the signed into law by Governor Brewer as Senate Finance Committee SB 1047 • Action Alert distributed Secular Coalition for Arizona Page: 2 January 2012 – May 2012 General Activities and 50th Legislature 2nd Session Wrap Up - 2012 SB 1086 “Arizona State Guard” This bill formed and mobilized an Arizona State Guard. The oath for the Guard, as written in the original bill, required swearing to God. SC Arizona remained neutral on the bill as a whole, but insisted that nonreligious Arizonans be given the option to affirm rather than swear to God should they wish to join the Guard. Actions Taken Outcome • Testified in the Border Security, Federalism • The bill was amended to include an option to and States Sovereignty Committee affirm the oath rather than swear to God, as • Worked directly with legislators on alternate per our recommendation oath wording • Held in the House based on concerns unrelated to our amendment SB 1359 “Civil Liability; Wrongful Birth, Life or Conception Claims; Application” This bill allows doctors to refrain from informing pregnant women of prenatal health issues if the doctor feels the information could lead to an abortion—another example of science-based medicine in Arizona becoming a casualty in the Religious Right’s war on abortion. Actions Taken Outcome • Four Action Alerts distributed • Passed by the Legislature and signed into law • Social media campaign by Governor Brewer SB 1360 “Gamete Donors; Informed Consent” This bill requires disclosures to gamete donors that present a bias against particular procedures for reasons based on religious assumptions about human development and the value of genetic material rather than evidence. Actions Taken Outcome • Corresponded with sponsors on improving • Held in committee bill language • Submitted comments to Senate Healthcare and Medical Liability Reform Committee requesting amendments Secular Coalition for Arizona Page: 3 January 2012 – May 2012 General Activities and 50th Legislature 2nd Session Wrap Up - 2012 SB 1361 “In Vitro Fertilization; Informed Consent” This bill requires disclosures to In Vitro patients that may not represent the most accurate, up- to-date scientifically supported medical information and are, in some cases, based on religious assumptions about human development and the value of genetic material rather than evidence. Actions Taken Outcome • Corresponded with sponsors on improving • Held in committee bill language • Submitted comments to Senate Healthcare and Medical Liability Reform Committee requesting amendments SB 1365 “Free Exercise of Religion; Contracts” This is a refusal of service and discrimination clause couched as a “religious liberty” bill, which empowers state-licensed professionals to deny services to anyone they object to
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