HRC Praises House Defeat Of Legislation Allowing Houses Of Worship To Engage In Partisan Political Activity

On October 2nd, The Human Rights Campaign praised the House of Representatives
as the effort to bring up the House of Worship Political Speech
Protection Act, H.R. 2357 failed. The bill, which would permit churches,
synagogues, and other houses of worship to engage in partisan political
activity without losing their tax-exempt status, not only failed to garner
the two-thirds vote necessary to pass the legislation under suspension of
the rules, but failed to receive even a majority vote. The legislation
failed on a 239-178 vote, with 46 Republicans opposing the measure.

"While we are troubled that the bill was able to come up at all, we are
relieved that the House very clearly recognizes that churches, synagogues
and other religious institutions should continue to have the same rights and
privileges as other non-profit groups," said HRC Political Director Winnie
Stachelberg. "We believe that all tax-exempt advocacy organizations should
be treated equally under the law – regardless of where the fall on the
ideological spectrum."

Under current laws all 501(c)(3)s, including organizations like the Human
Rights Campaign Foundation, and most churches, synagogues and other
religious institutions, are strictly prohibited from engaging in partisan
political activities. If a tax-exempt organization participates in partisan
political activity, they must forfeit their tax-exempt status.

HRC joined a broad coalition of allies in the civil rights and religious
community, including the Interfaith Alliance, the American Jewish Committee,
the Congress of National Black Churches, the NAACP and the Presbyterian
Church, in opposing this legislation. HRC is also concerned that time spent
on the bill could have been better used on other more pressing issues.

"Today's vote was much more about political posturing by the House
leadership, who are trying to appeal to their base supporters during an
election year, than it was about meaningful legislation. As of yesterday,
the Federal Government is operating without a budget – this just seems like
a tremendous waste of time that could have been better used on so many other
pressing issues," said Stachelberg.

HRC sent letters to members of the House urging them to oppose the bill.
Action alerts were also sent to HRC members encouraging them to contact
their representatives to express their concern over the bill.

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