Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Rep. Greg Steube seek to block the Biden administration from using rulings by liberal judges to hammer churches and other religious nonprofits for their tax-exempt status.
On Wednesday, Republican lawmakers filed the “Safeguarding Charity Act,” which would declare that not all nonprofit groups should be lumped together when the feds create regulations to govern them.
The bills came in response to rulings by federal judges in Maryland and California.
In each case, the judges determined that the defendants, which in both cases were Christian schools sued for violating Title IX, the federal law that guarantees equal treatment of the sexes, could be regulated by the government.
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The judges ruled that because the schools were exempt from paying federal income taxes under section 501(c)3, they were essentially receiving a form of federal financial assistance. As recipients of federal aid, then, they could be obliged to abide by regulations handed down by Washington.
Prior to those rulings, as noted by one legal analysis cited by the conservative website The Floridian, federal financial assistance was defined as grants or loans of federal funds; grants or donations of federal property; services performed by federal employees; the sale or lease of, and the permission to use, federal property; and contracts that are intended to provide such federal assistance to any educational institution or program.
The identical bills filed by Rubio and Steube, a Sarasota Republican, seek to clarify that recognition by the IRS as a 501(c)3 nonprofit group does not mean the group is an automatic recipient of federal aid.
In a statement issued Wednesday, Rubio noted, “Civic organizations like churches, schools, and charities are crucial to our communities. I remain concerned by recent court decisions that could subject these organizations to burdensome federal regulations simply because they are tax-exempt.”
“My Safeguarding Charity Act would protect these organizations from the government’s politicized battles so they can continue their vital work in our communities,” Rubio added.
In his own statement, also on Wednesday, Steube said, “Due to multiple, radical judicial decisions targeting religious schools, Congress must now codify that an organization holding tax-exempt status is not to be considered as a recipient of federal financial assistance.”
“The Safeguarding Charity Act will help prevent the weaponization of our judicial system against America’s houses of worship, religious schools, charities, and other non-profit organizations,” he continued. “These organizations should not be subjected to a series of laws and regulations triggered by receipt of federal financial assistance. I thank Senator Rubio for his partnership on this issue.”
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