Faith-based organizations provide a significant portion of the social services programs across the country and many receive federal funds to do so. Food banks, adoption services, housing for the homeless, and many other service providers can receive federal grants. Over half of child care services are provided by faith-based organizations which can receive federal funding directly, through state agencies, or from parents who receive federal childcare support.

Faith-based groups have the opportunity to proselytize people who are almost by definition somehow vulnerable, or they would not be seeking social services. These people should not be preached to when they are picking up a box of food at a food bank, for example. Similarly, organizations receiving federal funds should not discriminate in who they provide services to based on religious beliefs or lack of them. 

The Trump administration weakened the prohibition on proselytizing and discriminating by service providers who receive federal funds. The Biden administration has (finally) produced the regulations that formally reverse the Trump changes so that the appropriate protections will be reinstated for people seeking federally funded social services. This is accomplished through the regulatory process at the nine federal agencies that provide such federal grants to nonprofits. The agencies are now accepting comments on the new regulations from the public, and that means you. Our new Action Alert lets you do that by sending one message that says you support these changes. Please take one minute to do that; we know the opponents of these changes are adding their comments. 

In fact, there is a new bill in Congress I’m keeping an eye on that would write into law the opposite of the Biden protections: it would “ensure equal treatment for religious organizations in the Federal provision of social services programs, grantmaking, and contracting.” (When a bill is innocuously named The Lifting Local Communities Act you know it’s a problem.)

Lobby Day Is Back!

SCA’s lobby day in DC is happening on March 24. We will be on Capitol Hill meeting with members of the House and Senate and staff, letting them know about the growing secular population in this country. You should be there too. We will be advocating for legislation that affects secular Americans as well. There will be a reception the evening of March 23 with a legislator or two dropping by. 

You can find out more about Lobby Day and register here. We also have a block of hotel rooms reserved through next Thursday, the 23rd, at a good price for downtown Washington. You can register for a room on the Lobby Day page too. Who can do this? Anyone. No experience necessary. No one expects you to be an expert on policy or how a bill becomes law. You just need to explain how the bill we support affects you and we will have you ready for that. In-person meetings on Capitol Hill really just resumed this year. Be among the first to advocate for separation of religion and government.