Welcome to the Wednesday, July 1, Brew. Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:

1. Supreme Court rules state governments cannot prohibit using public funds on religious private schools
2. June election results 
3. U.S. District Court rules Idaho must allow initiative to collect electronic signatures or be placed on the ballot

Supreme Court rules state governments cannot prohibit using public funds on religious private schools 

The Supreme Court will issue opinions in July for the first time since 1996 as it has yet to issue rulings in eight cases from this term. The court agreed to hear 74 cases but 14 were either postponed to next term due to the coronavirus pandemic or not scheduled for argument. Since the court has so far issued decisions in 52 cases, rulings are expected for eight cases during July. The court will conference today and is expected to issue more rulings this week.

The court issued two opinions June 30. In a 5-4 decision in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, SCOTUS overturned a decision by the Montana Supreme Court prohibiting public funding for educational institutions run by religious organizations. The court’s majority held this was unconstitutional because it barred religious schools and parents who wished to send their children to those schools from receiving public benefits because of the religious character of the school. Chief Justice John Roberts delivered the majority opinion and was joined by Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan dissented.

The plaintiffs in the case challenged a 2015 Montana law establishing a program that matched taxpayer donations to organizations that issued scholarships for private school students. To ensure compliance with the Montana Constitution, the state Department of Revenue barred recipients from using the scholarships at religiously-affiliated private schools.

In the majority opinion, Chief Justice Roberts wrote, "A State need not subsidize private education. But once a State decides to do so, it cannot disqualify some private schools solely because they are religious." In her dissenting opinion, Justice Ginsburg wrote, "The Montana court remedied the state constitutional violation by striking the scholarship program in its entirety. Under that decree, secular and sectarian schools alike are ineligible for benefits, so the decision cannot be said to entail differential treatment based on petitioners’ religion."

The Montana Constitution contains language known as a Blaine Amendment that prohibits public funding for schools run by religious organizations. The specific language in each state constitution varies. Blaine Amendments are named after former Speaker of the House James Gillespie Blaine (R - Maine), who proposed such language as an amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1875 that never passed.

Blaine Amendments existed at one time in 38 state constitutions. Louisiana voters repealed their Blaine Amendment in 1974. In 31 states, the existing versions of Blaine Amendments were included when the state's most recent constitution was ratified, meaning that voters did not specifically vote on the Blaine Amendment individually. In six states, Blaine Amendments were added through specific constitutional amendments.

Learn more

       

---

June election results 

Election changes in response to the coronavirus have resulted in one race being called on the same day that other races are taking place a week later. Kentucky election officials completed counting mail-in ballots from the state’s major population centers yesterday and declared a winner in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate seat. That election was held June 23. There were also results from battleground primaries where voting concluded June 30. 

Here’s a quick summary:

Democratic primary for Kentucky's U.S. Senate seat

Amy McGrath defeated state Rep. Charles Booker and eight other candidates to win the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate in Kentucky. McGrath will face Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell—who won the Republican primary—in the Nov. 3 general election. 

With 99% of precincts counted, McGrath received 45% of the vote to Booker's 43%. The race was called by media outlets Tuesday, a week following the election, as election officials finished counting absentee ballots. 

McGrath had raised $41 million as of June 3—more than any other U.S. Senate candidate in the country. McConnell has raised the second-most nationally at $33 million. Three election forecasters rate the general election as likely or solid Republican.

Democratic primary for Colorado's U.S. Senate seat

Former Gov. John Hickenlooper defeated former state House Speaker Andrew Romanoff to win the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate in Colorado. Hickenlooper will face Sen. Cory Gardner (R) in the November general election. 

As of 7:30 p.m. Mountain Time on June 30, Hickenlooper received 60% of the vote to Romanoff's 40% with 58% of precincts reporting. The Colorado Sun described the race as mirroring splits within the national Democratic Party. Hickenlooper's endorsers included the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, while Romanoff's included the Metro Denver branch of Our Revolution.

The Cook Political Report rates the general election as Toss-up. Inside Elections and Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball rate it as Tilt or Lean Democratic.

Republican primary for Colorado's 3rd District

Lauren Boebert defeated incumbent U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton (R) in the Republican primary for Colorado's 3rd Congressional District. As of 9:15 p.m. Mountain Time on June 30, Boebert had received 54% of the vote to Tipton's 46% with 85% of precincts reporting. 

Tipton is the fifth member of the House of Representatives to lose renomination this year, joining Reps. Daniel Lipinski (D-Ill.), Steve King (R-Iowa), Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), and Denver Riggleman (R-Va.).

Coronavirus update: Forty-three states issued orders directing residents to stay home except for essential activities and closing or curtailing businesses deemed nonessential. Seven states did not issue such orders. As of June 30, those stay-at-home orders have ended in 42 states. California, which has a Democratic governor, is the only remaining state with an active stay-at-home order.
-

U.S. District Court rules Idaho must allow initiative to collect electronic signatures or be placed on the ballot

A U.S. District Court ruled that Idaho must allow sponsors of the Idaho Tax Increases for Education Funding Initiative to collect electronic signatures or put the group's initiative on the ballot directly. That measure would increase individual and corporate tax rates in the state and create a Quality Education Fund designed to fund K-12 education.

In Idaho, 55,057 valid signatures—6% of the registered voters as of the state's last general election—were required to qualify an initiated state statute for the ballot. Signatures for initiatives must be submitted by May 1 of the year in which the measure is to go on the ballot. Reclaim Idaho, sponsors of the initiative, stated in March that they had collected more than half of the required signatures. 

Here’s a timeline of what happened from there:

• March 16: Sponsors asked Idaho Governor Brad Little (R) to allow online signature gathering due to the coronavirus pandemic. A spokesperson for the governor stated that "Idaho statute does not allow for the suspension of rules regarding the physical collection of signatures, even in times of emergency."

• March 18: Reclaim Idaho announced that they were suspending their signature drive due to the coronavirus pandemic. The campaign requested that circulators send in outstanding petitions.

• June 6: Reclaim Idaho filed a lawsuit against Governor Brad Little (R) and Secretary of State Lawerence Denney (R) arguing that the restrictions put in place to slow the spread of the coronavirus made it impossible for the campaign to collect signatures, and therefore the state violated the petitioners' First Amendment rights.

• June 23: United States District Court Judge Lynn Winmill ruled that Idaho officials must do one of two things: (a) allow the campaign to gather signatures electronically or (b) place the ballot initiative on the November ballot themselves. Winmill concluded that the state restrictions in place to slow the spread of the coronavirus infringed on petitioners' First Amendment rights to place an initiative on the ballot. Winmill joined the court in 1995 after being nominated by President Bill Clinton.

• June 26: Idaho officials said they were appealing Winmill's ruling.

At least 15 lawsuits have been filed in 12 states seeking court orders suspending or changing ballot measure signature requirements and deadlines. Rulings or settlements have been issued in 14 cases. Ballotpedia has also tracked 25 statewide initiative petition drives that suspended signature gathering.

Ballotpedia depends on the support of our readers.

The Lucy Burns Institute, publisher of Ballotpedia, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. All donations are tax deductible to the extent of the law. Donations to the Lucy Burns Institute or Ballotpedia do not support any candidates or campaigns.