photo by: Steven Allen Adams

West Virginia Sen. Mike Azinger, left, and Gov. Patrick Morrisey celebrate the first “In God We Trust” signs paid for with private dollars going out to public schools and public higher education institutions in a press conference at the State Capitol Building on Monday.

CHARLESTON — After several years of introducing unsuccessful bills to place the national motto inside public schools, colleges and universities, the first privately purchased “In God We Trust” signs will be shipping out to West Virginia schools soon.

Gov. Patrick Morrisey and state Sen. Mike Azinger held a press conference Monday afternoon in front of the Senate Chamber at the State Capitol Building to celebrate the purchase of 25,000 “In God We Trust” signs by Patriot Mobile, a self-described “Christian conservative” provider of wireless cell phone services. They were joined by fellow lawmakers and supporters.

“I think we’re all here today to highlight our nation’s founding and also how our nation became so great over a long period of time and the values that permeated our country for the last couple hundred years,” Morrisey said. “Our faith in God propelled America through some difficult times through over 250 years of success, and we’re not going to stop now.”

Morrisey signed Senate Bill 280 in April, requiring the display of the national motto “In God We Trust” in K-12 and higher education facilities. Under the bill, public schools and colleges/universities must display a framed copy or durable poster of the motto along with the U.S. flag centered under the motto in a common area of the main building accessible to the public, though only private funds can be used to purchase the signage.

According to Azinger, Patriot Mobile donated $10,000 for the signs, which were printed by the American History and Heritage Foundation, a nonprofit organization that sponsored the placing of a monument to the 10 Commandments on the grounds of the Arkansas State Capitol Building. A federal court issued a preliminary injunction in August blocking the placement of that monument.

Jason Rapert, a former Arkansas state senator and the founder and president of the American History and Heritage Foundation, was on hand for Monday’s press conference.

“We need to resurrect those founding principles that our founding fathers gave to us … with this national motto “In God We Trust,” Rapert said. “The founding fathers could have said anything that they wanted to say in the Declaration of Independence, but they started with a very powerful line that says we are endowed by our creator with certain unalienable rights of which are life and liberty, right?”

Rapert said the American History and Heritage Foundation has distributed more than 53,000 “In God We Trust’ signs around the nation.

Rapert was joined by Andrea Justus, the Restoring Faith in America coordinator for the First Liberty Institute, a nonprofit legal organization that works on religious liberty cases. The First Liberty Institute is involved with litigation in Texas and Arkansas to post the 10 Commandments inside public schools. She encouraged West Virginia to introduce legislation next year to do the same.

“We’d love to see the 10 Commandments displayed in every classroom in West Virginia, and I also challenge you legislators to get one out on the state lawn, on the Capitol lawn,” Justus said. “Let’s get a granite monument here in West Virginia as well.”

Azinger thanked Republican majority leadership in the House of Delegates and Senate, the chairs of the House and Senate education committees, and other lawmakers for helping get SB 280 over the finish line this year.

Azinger, the lead sponsor of the bill, has introduced similar legislation for three years in a row, but this is the first year it has completed the legislative process. Azinger said some counties proactively placed “In God We Trust” signs in their schools, but Patriot Mobile and the First Liberty Institute would distribute signs to schools and colleges/universities.

“The bill took effect on July 11, and some classrooms already have them up. Some counties made their own. They’re even showing up in boards of education,” Azinger said. “They’re being distributed right there at the table. A lot of these folks drove a long way to take some back to their counties. A lot of legislators are taking them back to their counties. First Liberty and Patriot Mobile are going to pay to have them shipped.”