January 28, 2008
President Seeks New Legal Protections for Religious Charities Seeking Government Aid
By Grant Williams
Washington
In his State of the Union address, President Bush asked Congress to pass legislation that would “permanently extend” steps that his administration has taken to allow religious charities to compete more easily for federal funds.
Mr. Bush said that, over his seven years in office, “Americans have volunteered in record numbers. Charitable donations are higher than ever. Faith-based groups are bringing hope to pockets of despair, with newfound support from the federal government. And to help guarantee equal treatment for faith-based organizations when they compete for federal funds, I ask you to permanently extend charitable choice.”
In January 2001, immediately after taking office, Mr. Bush signed executive orders that urged the federal government to encourage religious charities to play a big role in the delivery of social services. Mr. Bush said the move would help promote equal treatment for religious groups when they compete for federal funds.
The executive orders established an office for the program in the White House — the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives — and satellite offices in five major cabinet departments. Eleven Centers for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives in cabinet departments have been created to date.
In his speech January 28, Mr. Bush asked Congress to pass a law that would reinforce administrative protections for religious groups.
Congress has considered legislation containing provisions promoted during the Bush administration, but no bill has ever emerged in final form.
“The initiative is changing the way government addresses human need by making grants programs and other opportunities more accessible to new faith-based and community partners,” said a statement released by the White House.
Critics have said that the “charitable choice” provisions blur or cross the line between church and state.
Aid for Private Schools
In his address, Mr. Bush also called on Congress to support a new $300-million scholarship program for poor children called Pell Grants for Kids.
Like the federal Pell Grants program, which students can use to attend the public or private college of their choice, Pell Grants for Kids “would offer scholarships to low-income children in underperforming elementary and secondary schools, including high schools with significant dropout rates,” the White House said in a statement it released before Mr. Bush’s speech. “These scholarships would help with the costs of attending an out-of-district public school or nearby private or faith-based school,” the White House said.
“We have seen how Pell Grants help low-income college students realize their full potential,” Mr. Bush told Congress. “Together, we have expanded the size and reach of these grants. Now let’s apply that same spirit to help liberate poor children trapped in failing public schools.”
Mr. Bush also announced that he would hold what the White House said would be a “summit on inner-city children and faith-based schools” this spring in Washington.
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This program is a blessing if it is done wright many people suffering can be helped.
— FR Stephen Petrovich Jan 29, 02:17 PM #
While I definitely appreciate the attempt to address education & low-income children, I think more resources should be directed at the public schools and not the individual students. The idea reminds me of suburbanization where middle & working class people migrated to the surburbs, leaving behind the desolate, poor communities that exist today.
I do think we need to give our kids a chance, but we are not addressing the failing systems. Does this program address root cause?
— Jamon Jan 30, 08:55 AM #
Some religious organzations do a great deal that is truly for the public good. An approach that would remove criticism and assure that federal dollars are being used for other than proselytizing would be for religious organizations to create charitable structures that are clearly separate from the worship and recruitment functions of the parent organizations, much as the Rotary Foundation is separate from the fraternal purposes of that organization.
— John Jan 30, 06:57 PM #