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Republican lawmakers in the House and Senate have introduced legislation that would amend a decades-old provision within the Internal Revenue Service regarding churches, pastors, and nonprofits.
North Carolina Representative Mark Harris and Oklahoma Senator James Lankford introduced the bicameral Free Speech Fairness Act on Monday. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas co-sponsored the legislation in the Senate, and 16 Republicans co-sponsored it in the House.
"Now that we have a Republican trifecta, [in the House, Senate and White House], [the bill sponsors are] hoping to have momentum behind it," a Harris spokesperson told Newsweek.
Hopefully, lawmakers will get this bill passed.
Here's why.
Be informed, not misled.
Why it matters.
Newsweek gives its version of this matter, but there's much more to the story.
Newsweek says:
The bill would remove the Johnson Amendment, a 1954 tax code provision.
Named after President Lyndon B. Johnson, the amendment prohibits all 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organizations—like churches, where contributions are tax-deductible—from supporting or opposing candidates in political campaigns. It was enacted to prevent tax-deductible money from being used in the process. Such organizations can still participate in electoral processes.
And Newsweek adds this to their "reporting":
During his first term in 2017, President Donald Trump signed an executive order, Promoting Free Speech and Liberty, to ease restrictions on religious organizations and nonprofits and provide more protections.
Despite Trump's claims that he "got rid" of the Johnson Amendment, it remains in place and can only be changed by Congress or the U.S. Supreme Court.
And then Newsweek said this:
Section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. tax code states that tax-exempt groups "are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office."
The bill introduced by Harris and Lankford would change that by allowing such organizations "to make statements relating to political campaign in ordinary course of carrying out its tax-exempt purpose."
Harris, a Baptist minister for over 35 years, said the legislation would prevent churches or nonprofits from becoming political action committees.
In the Republican tax reform bill in 2017, repealing the Johnson Amendment failed due to the Senate's reconciliation rules.
Later efforts were also unsuccessful, including in 2021 when now-House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and current Speaker of the House Mike Johnson introduced the same Free Speech Fairness Act. Lankford also helped reintroduce that bill.
Why this matter is so important.
The proposed legislation would restore free speech rights for pastors and other nonprofit groups, allowing them to briefly mention political candidates during sermons or a group’s regular activities.
America Family said this:
“From the time the Johnson Amendment went in place it created a black cloud, if you will, over pastors and pulpits across America using the tax exempt status as almost a wedge that would cause pastors to feel like if you spoke about a political candidate or in any way or influenced what was happening in an election, that they were going to come in and remove your church's C3 status,” Harris says.
“Because of that cloud, there have been a lot of pastors who have stepped back, unfortunately, from being willing to speak to those issues.”
It’s conceivable that pastors over the last four years could have avoided not only the names of political candidates but even topics, such as gender assignment and transition of the sexes, that might have been sensitive in nature to Democrats.
President Biden may have helped the church's cause inadvertently.
Under Joe Biden, the Department of Justice was not known to give some churchgoers the benefit of the doubt. That list includes right-leaning Catholics, who were viewed as potential terrorists by the FBI, or pro-life activists such as Mark Houck.
After shoving a man who was cursing him and his son, Houck faced up to 10 years in prison before a Philadelphia jury acquitted him of violating the FACE Act.
Shortly into his second term, Trump issued 23 pardons of pro-life activists, including middle-aged grandmothers, who were charged under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act.
Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) has filed a bill that would repeal the FACE Act.
While the Biden administration was going after its political enemies, their political allies in black churches were caught reciting talking points about Kamala Harris and her fundraising efforts. More than 50 black pastors were caught likely violating the Johnson Amendment by supporting the Democratic candidate.
Sunday morning sermons could sound different if the bill by Rep. Harris and Sen. Lankford becomes law.
“What we're hoping to build up is it really clarifies and will codify once and for all that the intention should never have been to silence the churches in America, but rather pastors are free to speak, thus saith the Lord God, when they're delivering their messages,” Harris said.
Pastors were free to comment politically prior to 1954, he said.
“Pastors felt that freedom to preach election day sermons, to call out elected officials who were not following those biblical principles. That freedom needs to be restored,” Harris said.
Takeaway
Tom McClusky, a spokesperson for Catholic Vote, told Newsweek that 10-20 years ago, such legislation would have had more Democratic support. He added that "in a perfect world," the Johnson Amendment would have been ruled unconstitutional by now.
"What the IRS code has done is put the fear, not of God but of the federal government, into a number of pastors, so they're afraid to talk about the issues of the day from the pulpit," said McClusky.
"Hopefully, this would lift the fear of that, and it could become left to the conscience of a pastor or priest on how they want to address these issues," he said.
Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Engaged. Be Prayerful.
