NEWS STORY: Religious Groups Lobby to Free Charitable Giving Bill

c. 2003 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ With only a few weeks left before Congress departs until 2004, religious advocacy groups are trying to break a Democratic “hold” on what remains of President Bush’s plan to provide tax breaks for charitable donations. Supporters say one or more unidentified Democrats have used indefinite delays to block […]

c. 2003 Religion News Service

WASHINGTON _ With only a few weeks left before Congress departs until 2004, religious advocacy groups are trying to break a Democratic “hold” on what remains of President Bush’s plan to provide tax breaks for charitable donations.

Supporters say one or more unidentified Democrats have used indefinite delays to block action on the remnants of Bush’s “faith-based initiative.”


The groups have been lobbying Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., to help end the hold on the Charity, Aid, Recovery and Empowerment (CARE) Act. The bill would provide federal block grants to community charities and social services organizations and offer tax incentives for charitable donations by individuals.

The original Bush plan would have allowed religious groups to apply for direct government funding of social services. It quickly stalled over concerns that religious groups could discriminate in hiring, or expose participants to religious symbols or proselytizing.

The CARE Act is a scaled-back version that allows tax incentives for charitable giving _ including allowing the 86 million taxpayers who do not itemize a standard $250 deduction for charitable gifts ($500 for couples).

It also allows larger charitable giving from IRAs and expands the Individual Development Account savings plan for low-income Americans. It provides $150 million a year in “technical assistance” to small charities that need help applying for grants and structuring their programs.

The Senate passed the bill last April after eliminating the controversial discrimination provisions. The House _ which had passed the larger Bush plan in 2001 _ agreed to a similar version in September. The next step, to reach a compromise between the two versions, is blocked because of the hold.

“This has turned into a very sharp partisan battle,” said Nathan Diament, director of public policy for the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations. “The people who are really missing out are the people in need.”

Activists say that while the concerns may be warranted, the delay tactics are not.

“There are some legitimate concerns on the Democratic side; they feel they have been left out of (House-Senate negotiating) committees,” said Yonce Shelton, director of public policy for Call to Renewal, a religious group committed to combatting poverty. “We are trying to urge the parties to come together and treat this with the respect it deserves.”


Even if a bill does make it to the president’s desk before Congress leaves town, the lack of faith-based language in the legislation has disappointed many advocacy groups.

“The bill really is not a faith-based bill anymore,” said Sharon Daly, vice president for social policy at Catholic Charities USA. “What we have is a charitable giving bill.”

The Senate version would restore about $1 billion each year to the block grants that were reduced in 1998. Activists are concerned the money may be cut in the compromise bill because the House did not vote to restore the money.

“It’s the kind of money that community groups can use most efficiently,” Daly said. It also has the most potential to fund religious charities.

Groups like Catholic Charities use the block grant money to establish low-income housing for the elderly, poor families and the disabled. Most groups also receive money from local and state governments.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development is one of the more adamant agencies in demanding religious names and mission statements to be stripped from centers _ a charity once had to change “the St. Vincent de Paul Center” to the “Mr. Vincent de Paul Center,” Daly said.


But Catholic Charities refuses to abandon its religious mission even as it takes federal grant money, Daly said. Catholic Charities’ local groups receive about 60 percent of their funds from the federal government.

The Rev. Elenora Giddings Ivory, director of the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s Washington office, said small religious and community organizations cannot provide services without grant money. She said the government needs to continue supporting local charities indirectly through state and local grants.

But she also said the groups should find other funding avenues to avoid government interference in their operations.

“We’re concerned that if churches get money (from the government), that they’re in the position to have their ministry controlled by the government,” Giddings Ivory said.

Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptists’ Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, said he encourages Baptist churches not to accept federal money because “with the government’s (money) come the government’s shackles.”

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Bush has angered some church-state groups by sidestepping Congress and issuing executive orders that direct federal agencies to open their grant programs to religious groups.


Rob Boston, a spokesman for American United for Separation of Church and State, said the current bill is a “mere shadow” of its former self. He said the larger threat is the executive orders to Cabinet departments.

“It can be overturned at the stroke of a pen,” he said.

KRE END GABRIEL

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