Family Council Calls on Justices to Stand by Arkansans

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, April 28, 2015

On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in Obergefell v. Hodges. This is considered by many to be a landmark case that will determine the future of marriage in America.

Family Council President Jerry Cox released a statement, saying, “Contrary to what some may believe, this is not simply a fight over same-sex marriage. This is about how marriage will be defined in America and who gets to write that definition.”

Cox said the U.S. Supreme Court should uphold state marriage laws in order to be consistent with its decision in United States v. Windsor. “In that ruling, the court said that marriage would be defined by each individual state. Upholding state marriage amendments as constitutional is the only way the court can be consistent with its 2013 Windsor decision.”

Cox said state marriage laws do more than simply ban same-sex marriage. “When the law says marriage is the union of one man to one woman, that is not simply a same-sex marriage ban. That defines the institution of marriage, and it prevents any other union from being classified as ‘marriage,’ including everything from same-sex marriage to polygamy.”

Cox said the U.S. Supreme Court should respect the will of the people concerning marriage. “If the court chooses to strike state marriage laws now, it will be doing so at the expense of democracy. Voters in Arkansas and thirty other states chose to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Voters in only three states have voted to define marriage differently. Every poll in more than a decade has indicated Arkansans still support the definition of marriage they adopted in 2004. This is something voters have handled very capably up to this point. Unilaterally striking these state marriage laws would signal that voters are incapable or irrelevant in the eyes of the U.S. Supreme Court.”

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State Starts with Minimal Cuts to Lottery Expenses

According to an article published in today’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, the Department of Finance and Administration is starting with minimal cuts to expenses at the Arkansas Lottery.

According to the article, DFA has eliminated 6 staff positions totaling roughly $400,000 in salary costs.

Of course $400,000 sounds like a lot of money, but consider this: The Arkansas Lottery hopes to allocate around $78,000,000 for college scholarships this year; however, ticket sales have continued to struggle, and the Arkansas Lottery is giving less than 19% of its gross revenue to the scholarship fund.

Even if DFA gives all $400,000 to the scholarship fund, that amounts to a 5% increase in scholarship dollars at best.

This year, the Arkansas Lottery plans to spend $6.45 million on salaries and benefits, and roughly $338.5 million total. Reducing salary expenses by $400,000 represents a savings of only 6.2% on staff compensation, and it amounts to a little over 0.1% of the Lottery’s overall expenses.

While we are glad the Arkansas Lottery Commission has been abolished and Lottery operations are merging with the Department of Finance and Administration, the average state lottery allocates 30% – 35% of its gross revenue for things like education or scholarships; Arkansas is allocating less than 19%.

Eliminating costs and redundancies at the Arkansas Lottery may be a step in the right direction, but it’s probably going to take more significant measures to turn the Arkansas Lottery into even an “average” program.

The Inside Scoop on Arkansas’ New Religious Freedom Law

IMG_6796Many people still do not fully understand Act 975, Arkansas’ new Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

What does this law do? Is it different from H.B. 1228, the first religious freedom bill the Arkansas Legislature sent to Governor Hutchinson? Why is this law even necessary?

We have the inside scoop.

Attorneys at Alliance Defending Freedom have prepared an excellent analysis of Act 975. They compare it with H.B. 1228 and Indiana’s religious freedom law.

You can download ADF’s excellent analysis of the law here.

Here is our analysis of Act 975:

The Inside Scoop on Arkansas’ New Religious Freedom Law

Summary: Act 975 of 2015, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), is a very strong law protecting religious liberty. It includes the same legal balancing test that is in federal RFRA, the RFRAs of 20 other states, and U.S. Supreme Court case-law dating back nearly a century. This law will protect the religious freedom of Arkansans in the same way that the other RFRAs have protected the rights of other Americans. It will protect the right of all Arkansans to live and work according to their faith by ensuring that they have a claim or defense to raise in court if the government tries to force them to violate their faith. (more…)