Who cares what California thinks?!

That seems to be the prevailing argument from the proponents of SB1062, the bill providing legal protection to businesses that deny goods or services on religious grounds. Arizona should be able to pass and enact laws as it sees fit and the will of the people should be done!

And if that were happening in Arizona, I’d say you’d have a good argument. Sadly, it appears that on a state level, our Legislature stopped serving the will of the people long ago and instead is pandering to minority constituencies, campaign donors and potential primary voters.

All you have to look at are the latest public opinion polls to see that while a “majority” of the Arizona State Legislature passed this bill, they most certainly are not representing a majority of the population.

Don’t believe me? Three Republican state senators who voted FOR the bill last week came out against it Monday. What sounded good in the chambers and halls of the Capitol most certainly did not sit well with the people of their district, the companies/employees impacted and dare I say, at church on Sunday!

So we are back to a small group of people dragging the image (and economic recovery) of Arizona down in an obvious attempt to curry favors with a small, but passionate group of voters and donors.

The minute this bill passed the House, the response from the business community was swift and clear. We are teetering on an economic recovery, and competing with other states for industry and jobs. WHY would you drive this wedge through the state and make the decision to NOT choose Arizona that much easier for the business community?

Let’s hope Gov. Brewer not only vetoes this bad bill, but makes a public show of it so the rest of the country can see that Arizona is NOT this intolerant and IS open for business!