Legislative Advocacy

During each legislative session, we track numerous bills that affect civil rights, human rights, or civil liberties, and when appropriate, we provide testimony on these bills in the respective state’s House and Senate.

While the ACLU covers many issues, most of our legislative work is concentrated on privacy (including reproductive rights), religious freedom, free speech, protected class (including LGBT, affirmative action, immigrant rights), and law enforcement.  Issues always arise that do not fit neatly into these categories, and the ACLU is ever vigilant to catch them.

To protect and defend civil liberties, we need your help and your voice. To stay informed about our public policy work, please sign up for our email newsletter and action alerts and follow us on Facebook and Twitter. We will let you know when we need you to stand up and fight for our freedoms.

2011 Legislative Victories

Missouri

House Bill 167 Missouri English-Only Driver's License Exam bill – Defeated.

This bill would have prohibited taking the state driver's license exam in any language other than English, making it virtually impossible for new immigrants and refugees to get a driver's license.

Kansas

House Bill 2260 Kansas Preservation of Religious Freedom Act - Stopped.

The ACLU advocates for religious freedom as a fundamental human right guaranteed by the Constitution. ACLU opposes this bill because HB 2260 fails to protect against government-sponsored religious discrimination. The ACLU believes there is a better way to protect religious freedom by providing exemptions for prisoners, historic preservation and land use, and existing civil rights protections in Kansas.

House Bill 2372 Kansas "Show Me Your Papers" bill - Stopped.

HB 2372, authored by Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, contains provisions modeled after SB 1070, the notorious Arizona law also authored by Kobach that remains subject to multiple lawsuits on grounds that it violates the Constitution. The Kansas House voted 84-40 against pulling HB 2372 from its Judiciary Committee, where the bill was tabled indefinitely. This bill has drawn strong opposition from some business groups, local governments, communities of faith and immigrants' rights advocates from across Kansas. The push for the bill was shadowed by one House member's public comment that illegal immigrants should be shot like feral swine.