On Monday, March 14, the Arizona Senate Government Committee will consider a bill that would carve out broad religious exemptions for churches in the state. Please take a moment to contact the committee and tell its members that religious favoritism should not be part of Arizona law.
HB 2507 is ostensibly a response to Covid emergency policies that applied to churches, but the language of the bill goes much further. It would prohibit the state from taking any “discriminatory action” against churches, which the bill defines as “any direct or indirect act or practice that adversely affects a religious organization.”
This tremendously broad language could arguably apply to any law a church does not want to follow for religious reasons. If the state enforces such a law, the church would be able to sue the state and recover costs and attorney fees from taxpayers, in addition to not having to comply with the law. The result is that the state will tend to look the other way when churches say they don’t want to follow the law.
It is already very difficult for the state to hold churches accountable for misconduct. Please take action to oppose this effort to make it even more difficult. The committee is meeting on Monday, so please take a moment to contact them today. You can use our automated system to contact the committee with just a few clicks.
Talking Points
Hello, as an Arizona resident and taxpayer I urge you to oppose HB 2507 at Monday’s hearing.
This bill is a tremendously broad liability shield for churches, going far beyond the emergency order concerns that gave rise to it. The bill defines “discriminatory action” in such sweeping terms that churches will be able to argue that they are entitled to an exemption from any laws they don’t want to follow for any reason, just by claiming “religious exercise.”
It is already very difficult for the state to hold churches accountable for misconduct, and this bill would make that problem worse for no good reason. Please vote “no” on HB 2507. Thank you for your time and consideration.
