Quick Note: America Waits on Governor Jan Brewer

Everyone is waiting to see what Arizona Governor Jan Brewer is going to do about SB1062, otherwise known as her state's refusal of service bill.  Both houses of the legislature passed it last week, and Ms. Brewer has until Saturday to decide to (A) veto it, or (B) do nothing, in which case the bill becomes state law.

Ms. Brewer cannot run for Governor again because of term limits, so her decision is not going to be made for political reasons.  She has said that she intends to "do what is best for Arizona."  If Governor Brewer is listening to her state's business community, the bill is toast.  Apple, Marriott and American Airlines have all indicated they want the bill vetoed.  

Next year's NFL Super Bowl is scheduled to be played in Phoenix. NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the league is"following the issue in Arizona and will continue to do so should the bill be signed into law, but will decline further comment at this time." Moving a Super Bowl from its scheduled city is not unprecedented.  In 1993, the game was moved from Arizona to California's Rose Bowl stadium following Arizona's failure to recognize Martin Luther King Day as a paid state holiday.  (They have since added that holiday to the state calendar.)

Three Republican Arizona state Senators, Adam Driggs, Steve Pearce and Bob Worsley--who all voted in favor of the bill last week--have indicated they want Ms. Brewer to kill the legislation, saying the bill is "causing our state unmeasurable harm."  In a joint statement, they said, "While our sincere intent in voting for this bill was to create a shield for all citizens' religious liberties, the bill has instead been mischaracterized by its opponents as a sword of religious intolerance."

It's nice that these three legislators recognize that Arizona has become the center of a political whirlwind, albeit one of their own creation, but it's a little hard to understand how they could not have seen this coming. 

And as for believing they were creating a "shield for all citizens' religious liberties", we already have that.  It's called the separation of church and state.  The church doesn't get to tell the state how to write laws and the state doesn't get to tell the church how to pray.  It's really pretty basic and has worked amazingly well for over 200 years.  I'm surprised these Arizona legislators are unaware of it.

Not all Arizonians are throwing in the towel on this issue, however.  Cathi Herrod of the Center for Arizona Policy, the organization that helped to write SB1062, issued a statement calling attacks on the bill "politics at its absolute worst.  Instead of having an honest discussion about the true meaning of religious liberty, opponents of the bill have hijacked this discussion through lies, personal attacks and irresponsible reporting."

In an attempt to defuse the controversy swirling through the Grand Canyon state, Aaron Baer, the Center for Arizona Policy's Communication Director, denied that the bill was anti-gay, explaining that it could also be used to turn away straight people who support same-sex marriage.

Oh, yeah, THAT should calm things right down.