Holly Bruce holds up a sign during the Stand Up for Religious Freedom Rally in front of the Matheson Courthouse in Salt Lake City on Friday, March 23, 2012.

Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

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WASHINGTON Legislative leaders from nine states Tuesday, citing a growing polarization on the issue of religious freedom, announced the formation of state religious freedom caucuses. There are plans to have similar legislative caucuses in all 50 states by the end of 2013.

The first wave of caucuses are headed by legislative leaders in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Missouri, New Hampshire, Oklahoma and Tennessee. A caucus in Utah is anticipated to be announced in January, although its local leaders haven't been publicly identified.

The Ethics and Public Policy Center's American Religious Freedom Program is heading up the caucus effort to provide resources and expertise to state lawmakers who want to set state-specific religious freedom policy.

The program is targeting states with a strategy to combat threats to religious liberty on the ground level and help create a thoughtful, less polarized approach to resolving differences that will inform federal officials.

"A high percentage of laws are made in state houses, not by Congress, and a high percentage of religious freedom threats materialize in states," said Tim Schultz, state legislative policy director for ARFP. "But states have not been as quick to recognize that this is something they will have to confront."

The exceptions are representatives from the nine states on-hand for a teleconference announcing the caucuses.

"Legislative caucuses focused on religious freedom will help ensure that each statehouse is a bulwark against overreaching government officials and policies that would corrupt or curtail those freedoms," said Kansas Republican Rep. Lance Kinzer, who is chairman of the Legislature's Judiciary Committee.

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Nine states launch religious freedom caucuses to promote tolerance