___ Adoption tax credit favored. Legislation to renew and expand the tax credit for adoption has been introduced in Congress with strong support. The Hope for Children Act, H.R. 622, would double the adoption tax credit to $10,000. It also would index the credit for inflation and double to $10,000 the amount of adoption assistance by an employer that may be excluded from an employee's taxable income. The $5,000 credit for the adoption of non-special needs children and the credit for employer-provided adoption benefits are scheduled to expire this year.
___ Church loses when bank closes. A small-town Illinois church lost nearly $50,000 when its bank shut down before Christmas, in the heart of the church's collection of the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for international missions. First Baptist Church of Metropolis, Ill., learned a hard lesson when the National State Bank of Metropolis, which had been doing business for more than a century and survived the Great Depression, closed its doors Dec. 14. The church had several accounts totaling nearly $150,000. But the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. insures funds up to $100,000.
___ Vouchers upheld. A federal appeals court has ruled a Cleveland, Ohio, education voucher program may continue while the case is being appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay of its decision striking down the Cleveland program until the high court resolves the case.
___ DiIulio tithes. John DiIulio, head of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, and his wife have given about 10 percent of their after-tax income to charitable organizations, according to the Associated Press. He called the $125,000 in donations since 1996 not enough. He and his wife hope to increase their giving to 25 percent of their income, the news report stated. DiIulio currently earns no salary for his White House job, he said, but beginning April 1 will make about $130,000 to $140,000 per year.
___ Sooner lottery now later. Opposition by Oklahoma Baptists and other church groups is being credited with stopping a lottery proposal in the state Senate. After vocal opposition, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted 17-13 to kill a proposal for a statewide referendum on a lottery.
___ Court asked to hear commandments case. The American Center for Law and Justice has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a case concerning the constitutionality of a 43-year-old Ten Commandments monument in Indiana. The case involves a 6-foot-high granite display outside City Hall in Elkhart, Ind. In December, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that the monument is unconstitutional, overturning a lower court decision.
___ Scientist wins religion prize. Arthur Peacocke, a physical biochemist whose early research of the DNA molecule led him to ask theological questions--and in the process become an Anglican priest--has been awarded the 2001 Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion. Peacocke, 76, founder of both the Society of Ordained Scientists and an Oxford University interdisciplinary center for religion and science, is the third scientist in as many years to win the prize.
The Baptist Standard
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