California Attorney General Rob Bonta joined a coalition of attorneys general from 19 states and the District of Columbia in filing an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court defending a Colorado requirement that preschools receiving state funding comply with the state's antidiscrimination laws, the attorney general's office said.
Colorado launched its Universal Preschool program in 2023, providing public funding to participating private and public preschool providers. As a condition of that funding, providers must agree to give eligible families an equal opportunity to enroll their children regardless of race, ethnicity, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, housing, income level or disability.
Two Catholic preschools and the Archdiocese of Denver sued to block the enrollment requirement in the case St. Mary's Catholic Parish vs. Roy, arguing it unfairly targets religious institutions. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit rejected that argument, ruling the requirement applies to all schools equally. The preschools appealed, and the Supreme Court has agreed to hear oral arguments on November 3, 2026.
"All students deserve access to safe, welcoming, and inclusive school lives," Bonta said.
In the brief, the coalition argues that states have a strong interest in ensuring organizations receiving public funding comply with the same civil rights protections that apply to state-run programs, and that allowing providers to bypass those laws could force states into a patchwork of provider-by-provider rules or push some services entirely in-house.
The brief was co-led by Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison. It was also joined by the attorneys general of Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.