State Rep. Scott Plakon, R-Longwood (Pic by Meredith Geddings, via myfloridahouse.gov) This Thursday, a court in Tallahassee will hear a lawsuit filed by numerous educators, religious leaders and civil liberties advocates challenging the constitutionality of a 2012 ballot measure that would repeal Florida’s constitutional ban on taxpayer funding for religious groups. Despite the millions of dollars the state has already given to religious groups in Florida through the years, the GOP-led state Legislature has proposed an amendment that would no longer “threaten” public funding for religious institutions
“„It should be obvious that we don’t need the Legislature to bestow religious freedom on us. It’s already guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.
“„So why amend the Florida Constitution in the name of “religious freedom”?
“„One word: money.
“„What the Legislature wants us to approve is the repeal of Florida’s historic, even-handed language prohibiting taxpayer funding of all religious entities and replace it with the requirement that all of us open our checkbooks for any mosque, synagogue, church or other religious entity that wants government money.
“„…
“„Now, Tallahassee politicians want to replace the ban on funding religion with: “No individual or entity may be … barred from receiving funding on the basis of religious identity or belief.”
“„A close read shows that the plan is about funding, not religious freedom. It reads, “No … entity … may be barred from receiving funding …”