August 7, 2000
Bill giving churches more zoning
protection sails through Congress
___By Kenny Byrd
___Associated Baptist Press
___WASHINGTON (ABP)--A bill providing houses of worship with greater protection from burdensome zoning laws cleared both houses of Congress July 27 as lawmakers began a month-long recess.
___The Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act also would also give residents of government-run prisons, hospitals and group homes greater protection for religious exercises that sometimes conflict with broad, generally applicable rules.
___The bill was sought by a reunited coalition of more than 50 religious and civil liberties groups that formed to pass the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Parts of RFRA failed a constitutional challenge in the Supreme Court in 1997. The religious land use bill is the second bill introduced to respond to that Supreme Court decision.
___The measure cleared by unanimous consent in the Senate and was literally walked over to the House chamber where it was unanimously approved minutes before House lawmakers adjourned for the August recess.
___The bill now heads to President Bill Clinton, who is expected to sign it into law. The administration has issued statements in support of the bill. It was introduced July 13 and had broad bipartisan backing. Its sponsors included Reps. Charles Canady, R-Fla., Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., and Chet Edwards, D-Texas, as well as Senators Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and Tom Daschle, D-S.D.
___Hatch said it is "one of the most important bills of this new century." The bill was more narrowly targeted than an earlier bill that split the Coalition for the Free Exercise of Religion--some of which were supporters of gay and civil rights who feared the broader bill could threaten fair housing and civil rights laws.
___Canady said the measure would protect religious freedom from unnecessary governmental interference.
___"While this bill does not fill the gap in the legal protections available to people of faith in every circumstance, it will provide critical protection in two important areas where the right to religious exercise is frequently infringed," he explained.
___When introducing the measure, sponsors described instances of city officials seeking to limit the number of worshippers at churches and pressuring houses of worship to shut down soup kitchens.
___The bill would not exempt churches from zoning regulations, but it would require zoning officials to have a compelling reason when they substantially burden religious exercise. It also would require zoning officials to treat religious applicants at least as well as secular ones.
___The Baptist Joint Committee, which chaired the religious coalition, issued a July 28 statement applauding the measure's passage.
___The coalition included groups such as the American Jewish Congress, American Jewish Committee, American Civil Liberties Union, People For the American Way and Americans United for Separation of Church and State as well as the Family Research Council, Christian Legal Society, Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and National Association of Evangelicals.
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