April 22, 2002
IRS restriction on church politicking under scrutiny
___By Robert Marus
___ABP Washington Bureau
___WASHINGTON (ABP)--A longstanding IRS rule that churches and other non-profit organizations exempt from paying taxes may not engage in partisan politics would be removed from the tax code if a bill pending in Congress becomes law.
___A bill now in a U.S. House committee would allow churches to spend as much as 20 percent of their budgets on partisan politics, including endorsing candidates, without risking loss of their tax-exempt status.
___Supporters of the change say the current law infringes churches' right to freedom of speech. Opponents say removing the limits would unnecessarily politicize America's pulpits.
___Meanwhile, a new poll shows Americans overwhelmingly believe clergy should refrain from endorsing political candidates.
___House Resolution 2357 is called the "Houses of Worship Political Speech Protection Act." Sponsored by Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., it would remove a prohibition enacted in 1954 against churches and other non-profit groups organized under section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Service code engaging in partisan politics.
___"For me, it's a First Amendment issue," Jones told the Raleigh, N.C., News & Observer. "Prior to 1954, a rabbi, priest or minister could say anything they wanted to say. This is simply trying to return free speech to churches and synagogues."
___Opponents of the bill say current laws don't prevent tax-exempt charities from speaking out on political issues. Churches and ministers can address social and moral issues--such as opposition to lotteries, gay rights and abortion--as long as they don't endorse candidates.
___"This bill isn't about free speech; it's about hardball politics," said Barry Lynn, director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. "Pat Robertson and his friends are desperately trying to forge churches into a political machine, and this bill allows them to get away with it."
___Currently, if a church endorses a political party or a particular candidate, then it risks losing its tax-exempt status. The only known case of that happening came in 1995, however. That's when the IRS revoked the tax-exempt status of The Church at Pierce Creek, near Binghamton, N.Y., as the result of a 1992 newspaper advertisement the church purchased. The ad told voters it was wrong to vote for Bill Clinton for president.
___In recent years, the IRS has conducted several investigations into other churches and religious organizations that appeared to endorse candidates or political parties.
___The Washington Post quoted Jones as saying conservative churches are most likely to be investigated, producing what he termed a "chilling effect" on their freedom of political speech.
___Americans United, however, claims the IRS is enforcing the tax code fairly. "I know of no evidence whatsoever that the IRS has singled out conservative churches for penalties," Lynn said.
___Lynn noted that prominent African-American pastor Floyd Flake got into hot water after endorsing Al Gore's presidential campaign from a New York pulpit in 2000.
___"IRS agents came to the church for a visit," Lynn said. "To avoid penalties, Flake signed a document promising to follow federal tax law more carefully in the future."
___Lynn said the only reason the Pierce Creek congregation lost its tax exemption for electioneering is that the pastor told the IRS he had used church funds to take out candidate advertisements in the newspaper and he intended to continue to do so. Federal courts later upheld the revocation.
___Language of the new bill was drafted by Colby May, a lawyer for the American Center for Law and Justice. The ACLJ was founded by Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson.
___The coalition recently lost its own battle to maintain its tax-exempt status with the IRS, meaning donations to the group are no longer tax-deductible. In January, Rep. Jones appeared on Robertson's "700 Club" television program to promote the bill. Robertson urged viewers to contact House Ways & Means Committee chair Bill Thomas, R-Calif., and ask him to schedule a hearing for the bill as soon as possible.
___Richard Land, head of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, supports the Jones legislation. "We don't think the government should be telling churches what to do," he told the Raleigh newspaper. "It's for us to decide, not the government."
___While he believes churches should have the right to endorse candidates, Land added, "We will continue to urge our churches not to do it." Overt partisan politicking is "not an appropriate role for the church," he said.
___Former Southern Baptist Convention President Ed Young, whose Second Baptist Church of Houston endured its own four-year investigation by the IRS, also endorsed the change in comments reported by the New York Times.
___"I just think the religious entities of America need to keep their prophetic voice," Young said. "And you lose that if you send money to politicians or openly support them during an election season."
___Jones' bill has 113 co-sponsors in the House--all but four of them are Republicans. Although Jones has said he hopes the proposal will receive a hearing in May, sources say it has not yet been scheduled for any hearing.
___The bill comes at a time when a new poll shows Americans, by a three-to-one majority, oppose religious groups involving themselves directly in partisan politics.
___On March 20, the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life announced the results of a poll on the attitudes of Americans toward religion and politics. The poll found 70 percent of respondents oppose clergy endorsing political candidates, while 22 percent support the idea.
___In addition, majorities of all of the demographic groups polled opposed the idea--white mainline Protestants, African-American Protestants, Catholics, and those of other faiths or no faith at all. Even white evangelicals--the most supportive group of church endorsements of political candidates--still opposed the idea 61 percent to 31 percent.
___While the notion that churches should not engage in partisan politics did not originate in 1954, the government ban on non-profits engaging in such conduct was codified then.
___That action came about as Lyndon Johnson sought re-election to the U.S. Senate. On July 2 of that year, Johnson proposed an amendment to a bill revising the tax code. That amendment, adopted by the Senate without discussion, inserted the language prohibiting 501c(3) organizations from endorsing or opposing candidates.
___Some historians contend Johnson's concern was silencing non-profit political organizations that were challenging his bid for re-election.
___Churches and religious organizations fall in the same IRS classification as Facts Forum and the Committee for Constitutional Government, two anti-communist organizations that at the time were opposing Johnson. Facts Forum was founded by the Texas millionaire H.L. Hunt; the Committee for Constitutional Government was founded by publisher Frank Gannett.
___Also in the mix in 1954, Johnson was working to hold off McCarthyism both in Texas and Washington, but especially within the Texas Democratic Party. The Texas governor at the time, Allan Shivers, was a powerful ally of Sen. Joseph McCarthy.
___With additional reporting by Managing Editor Mark Wingfield
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