This week, a new law was enacted in Lousiana — House Bill 8 — mandating school classrooms to put up a sign reading, ‘In God We Trust.’ More surprisingly, the legislation was signed into law by Democrat Governor John Bel Edwards (D-LA).
House Bill 8 of the 2023 legislative session officially “requires display of the national motto, ‘In God We Trust’, in every public elementary, secondary, and postsecondary education classroom.” HB8 was signed into law by Governor Edwards in June of this year.
As Newsmax previously reported, “Public schools will not be required to use funds to purchase the displays and can use donated funds or accept donated displays.”
This is a significant move from a state known for its religiosity. In fact, as a 2016 Pew Research survey finds, Louisiana is the fourth most religious state in the nation — 71 percent of its population is considered ‘highly religious.’ This law is in keeping with the value system of the majority, although the law itself makes no effort to define the ‘God’ in whom trust is placed.
This is not the first time Edwards has enacted legislation mandating the use of that phrase in schools. In 2018, Edwards mandated a similar law, applicable to all public schools. The law did not apply to every single classroom in the state, but the use of the phrase had been the law of the land for some time — thus refuting any arguments that this was a uniquely conservative piece of legislation.
“Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards signed a bill in May 2018 requiring the phrase be displayed in all public schools in the state by the beginning of the 2019-2020 school year,” CNN previously reported. “The bill gives school administrators discretion over how the phrase is displayed, but there’s ‘a minimum requirement of a paper sign.'”
State Representative Dodie Horton (R-LA), one of the drafters of the bill, took to Facebook to defend her legislation, writing, “Evidently, everyone is now a constitutional scholar… well, I hate to break it to you, but there is NOTHING unconstitutional about placing our national motto in the classroom. #winning ”
“It’s already law that every school must display our national motto,” Horton added. “I’m just amending the law to have it displayed in each classroom. However, I wrote the law so that it would NOT place a financial burden on the schools as I have no doubt that there are plenty of America-loving, God-fearing patriots and businesses who will donate signs for each classroom to hang.”