Brewer wrote, “The out-of-state examples cited by proponents of the bill, while concerning, are issues not currently existing in Arizona. Furthermore, the bill is broadly worded and could result in unintended and negative consequences.”
Those negative consequences for Brewer were primarily economic. She wrote, “The legislation seeks to protect businesses, yet the business community overwhelmingly opposes the proposed law.” Just this week, the NFL issued a statement that they might change the venue for the Super Bowl planned for Glendale. Brewer addressed the economics.
Speaker Andy Tobin released the following statement immediately after the Governor’s announcement: “I respect the Governor’s position to veto SB1062, especially in light of the concerns brought up over the past week. I understand the concerns of people of good faith on all sides of this issue.”
As Arizonans awaited their governor’s decisions on the recently passed SB1062, the mainstream media are highlighting the more desperate politicians on both sides, who are seeking any publicity.
Little attention, however, has been brought to those who drove the legislators to stumble once again into the national spotlight.
In November of 2013, the ACLU of Wisconsin posted a request on Facebook of their friends: “looking for LGBT people who have been discriminated against by a religiously affiliated employer.”
In response to an inquiry about the posting, the ACLU of Wisconsin posted, “This is not for a legal action. It’s for a media campaign for the national ACLU office.”
The administrator of the Facebook page refused to answer a question about the goals of the media campaign on their Facebook page or return phone calls.
A month later in the middle of the dust-up over Duck Dynasty patriarch Phil Robertson’s comments about his personal beliefs, popular libertarian sociologist Camille Paglia called the “punitive PC” suspension of Robertson, “utterly fascist, utterly Stalinist.” The Daily Caller reported that Paglia, an openly gay professor at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, said that the “intolerance by gay activists toward the full spectrum of human beliefs is a sign of immaturity, juvenility.”
According to Capitol insiders, it was that sort of “utterly fascist” attack that led Arizona’s legislators to propose and pass the law.
“Whether it is a result of immaturity or something more sinister, the ACLU understood what the Arizona legislators did not; you need to present your side in a careful media campaign before you make your move,” said one Capitol insider. “These guys were sloppy and arrogant and paid the price.”
As a result of ignoring the need to win hearts and minds, those same legislators have once again been betrayed by Brewer. Brewer, who called a Special Session of the Legislature during their Regular Session last year to push through Medicaid expansion, has had an acrimonious relationship with the Legislature. She has rarely missed an opportunity throw them under the bus.
In an ironic twist Brewer, in her Veto letter, urged legislators to “focus on the priorities I presented in my State of the State address. It is essential that we come together for a principled, fiscally prudent budget to continue Arizona’s economic recovery and foster Arizona’s business friendly environment.”
Brewer’s Medicaid expansion is the largest expansion of a social welfare program in the state’s history.
Related articles:
SB1062: Everything You Wanted to Know, But Didn’t Bother to Ask
SB1062: A Conundrum Wrapped in a Riddle?