Question & Answer
The Blaine Game: Controversy Over the Blaine Amendments and Public Funding of Religion
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Former U.S. House Speaker James Blaine, who in 1875
proposed a U.S. constitutional amendment prohibiting states
from funding religious education.
In June 2008, a church-state watchdog organization and several other groups filed a lawsuit in Florida seeking to remove from the state's November ballot two proposed amendments to the Florida Constitution. The proposed amendments, if passed, would eliminate legal obstacles that currently prevent Florida from funding religious schools. One of the proposed amendments would permit parents to use state-funded vouchers to send their children to private schools in Florida, including religious schools. The other amendment would repeal a Florida state constitutional provision that prohibits public funding of religious organizations. More than two-thirds of the states have similar constitutional provisions restricting state aid to religious organizations; these state constitutional provisions are collectively known as the Blaine Amendments. To understand how the Blaine Amendments affect government funding of religious organizations, the Forum turns to church-state scholar Ira "Chip" Lupu.
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