Friend,

This week, the Trump administration and its allies had nowhere to hide. Their blatant attempts to exploit the coronavirus pandemic to erode religious freedom and fund religious schools were all too apparent.

A new analysis by Americans United of the CARES Act’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) reveals that as much as $6.47 billion of federal funds were given to private schools since the pandemic began. And as much as $4.08 billion of this money is directly funding private religious schools, including many schools that discriminate against students, families and teachers in a variety of ways. I know I don’t have to tell you that this is bad policy and it undermines church-state separation.

We are already using these revelations to advocate in Congress for tougher restrictions on upcoming coronavirus relief funds, and we will continue to fight against any use of tax dollars to fund religion. I want to take a moment to thank our incredible Public Policy staff and team of summer interns, who worked tirelessly to uncover the scope of private school funding in the available PPP data. You can read the full report here.

In the face of these unprecedented challenges, all of us who support the separation of religion and government need to get active and involved however we can. You can take your commitment to the next level by joining us on September 14th and 15th at AU’s Virtual National Advocacy Summit. Please invite your friends and family to join the Summit too; you don’t have to be a member, and it’s a great opportunity to get to know Americans United and our cause.

From the safety and comfort of your own home, the Virtual National Advocacy Summit will offer you an array of live online plenaries from exciting leaders and experts in church-state separation, on-demand video workshops, and even a chance to sing along with a special musical guest! The second day of the Summit will be a National Day of Action featuring virtual lobby visits with members of Congress. This unique opportunity to talk about why church-state separation matters to you and to the country is limited to 150 people, so don’t wait – if you want to participate, click here to register while space is available.

I hope you feel as inspired to take action and defend religious freedom as I do, friend. Our freedoms are only ever as strong as our willingness to defend them.

With hope and determination,