In Arizona on Monday, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge told the parties at a hearing that her preliminary view was that she would uphold Arizona's law providing a tax credit to businesses that donate funds to provide low-income students with grants for private school tuition. KVOA News reported yesterday that Judge Janet Barton said that she was bound by a 1999 Arizona Supreme Court decision that upheld similar tax credits for individuals, though attorneys disagree over the scope of that ruling. The suit in Judge Barton's court was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Arizona School Boards Association. It claims that the tax credit provisions violate state constitutional prohibitions against public funding for religious schools (Art. 2, Sec. 12) and provisions requiring a general and uniform public school system (Art. 11, Sec. 1).
UPDATE: On Wednesday, Judge Barton issued an opinion upholding the tax credit provisions. Plaintiffs said they would appeal, and said that a pending federal case may also rule on the issue. (Arizona Republic.)
