Florida To Consider Repeal of a State-Church Law

The potential repeal of a century-old Florida law barring state funding for religiously affiliated organizations is to be put before the voters there this fall, at the end of a lobbying battle that has attracted the attention of President Bush and has engaged a coalition of liberal or secular educational groups.

The vote is widely considered the first of numerous state battles over the funding ban. It exists in 36 other states but has been targeted by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a Washington-based law firm, and by activists in the states.

At stake is the Blaine Amendment, a type of law enacted in states about a century ago as an attempt by the country's Protestant majority to block government support for Catholic schools. The Blaine laws have long kept religious schools and many programs run by religiously affiliated organizations, away from the public coffers.

At a recent White House summit on faith-based schools in urban areas last month, Mr. Bush took direct aim at the Blaine laws. "If they're concerned about quality education for children, and if they're concerned about these schools closing, they ought to remove the Blaine Amendments," he said.

In Florida, a citizen panel called the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission last month voted to put a measure on the November ballot stating that "individuals or entities may not be barred from participating in public programs because of their religion." The panel, appointed by the governor and legislative leaders, meets every 20 years.

Patricia Levesque, the commission member who pushed to add the measure, said she acted because a 2004 appeals court decision cited the Blaine Amendment while striking down then-Governor Jeb Bush's effort to allow students in failing schools to enroll in parochial and other private schools at public expense.

Opponents of the measure say that Ms. Levesque, Jeb Bush's former education policy chief and the current head of Mr. Bush's independent education organization, Foundation for Florida's Future, is using alarmist language as a way to revive his voucher program.