Taxpayers shouldn’t subsidize political campaigns

Bill Knight column for Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, March 19, 20 or 21

President Trump at the 2017 National Prayer Breakfast repeated his campaign promise to dismantle the “Johnson amendment,” the federal law prohibiting nonprofits, including churches, from getting involved in partisan electoral politics.

“I will get rid of and totally destroy the ‘Johnson amendment’ and allow our representatives of faith to speak freely and without fear of retribution,” Trump vowed. “Remember.”

We all should – though he didn’t mention it at this year’s National Prayer Breakfast.

Trump remembers. During December’s debate over tax reform, he tried to pressure Congress to include the move in the overhaul, but the GOP limied debate to topics affecting the budget, so the parliamentarian blocked the scheme. Before, on May 4, Trump signed “Presidential Executive Order Promoting Free Speech and Religious Liberty,” but it didn’t kill the “Johnson amendment” nor opened up politicking from the pulpit.

The “Johnson amendment” is part of the tax code, named after then-Sen. Lyndon B. Johnson (D-Texas), who was upset that a tax-exempt organization supported an election opponent and introduced the change in 1954. It bars nonprofit organizations from endorsing or opposing candidates. If a tax-exempt organization violates this prohibition, it could lose its tax-exempt status, meaning it would be subject to taxation and donations it receives wouldn’t be tax-deductible. The change wasn’t controversial (continuing during the Reagan administration when the law was updated) .

After all, contrary to Trump’s claim, religious leaders may, as private citizens, speak freely about politics. They just can’t use the 501 (c)(3) tax-exempt resources of their nonprofits to do it. In fact, a 2015 Secular Policy Institute study said that tax-exempt churches in the United States costing the nation $71 billion annually in tax breaks, including federal income-tax subsidies, property-tax credits, state income tax, and  subsidies for parsonages and “faith-based initiatives.”

Advocating for the repeal, Trump panders to a base for which he doesn’t show respect: the “Religious Right.” Embodied in Liberty University president Jerry Falwell Jr. (who almost violated the law by endorsing Mike Huckabee in 2008), Franklin Graham (the CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association), and Ralph Reed (formerly with the Christian Coalition and now chair of the Faith & Freedom Coalition), this political sect remains powerful despite Roy Moore’s loss in his unsuccessful bid for a Senate seat from Alabama. (Falwell, Graham and Reed all supported Moore despite several women accused him of sexual misconduct.)

Interestingly, since the “Johnson amendment” was enacted, only one church has been “punished,” according Father Thomas Reese: a Vestal, N.Y., church. In 1992 it paid for advertising stating, “Do not put the economy ahead of the Ten Commandments,” falsely asserting that then-Gov. Bill Clinton supported abortion on demand, homosexuality, and giving condoms to teens. The ad said it was “co-sponsored by the Church at Pierce Creek, Daniel J. Little, Senior Pastor, and by churches and concerned Christians nationwide. Tax-deductible donations for this advertisement gladly accepted.”

The Internal Revenue Service noticed and revoked the church’s tax exemption, and the church challenged the IRS in federal court. But courts said the church’s constitutional rights to free exercise of religion and free speech weren’t violated, ruling, “Plaintiffs were offered a choice: They could engage in partisan political activity and forfeit their Section 501(c)(3) status, or they could refrain from partisan political activity and retain their Section 501(c)(3) status. That choice is unconnected to plaintiffs’ ability to freely exercise their religion.”

However, the law isn’t just about churches. Some universities, hospitals and charities ranging from the conservative Koch brothers’ family foundation to progressive George Soros’ foundation could increasingly wield their wealth to influence elections – tax-free.

Critics such as the National Council of Nonprofits, Jewish Federations of North America, and Religious Society of Friends (the Quakers) say Trump’s threat would just create another campaign-finance loophole, turning nonprofits into funnels for tax-deductible political donations. It also would increase government examination of churches, which aren’t obligated to meet reporting requirements other 501(c)(3) groups must.)

 “President Donald Trump and the Religious Right seek to turn America’s houses of worship into miniature Political Action Committees,” commented Barry Lynn, director of Americans United. “That would be a disaster for both churches and politics in America.”

Killing the “Johnson amendment” would divide congregations that come together to worship, not to argue over politicians. It would probably discourage tax-deductible giving to otherwise charitable causes since contributions would instead go to nonprofits active in politics. And it’s unpopular. Most clergy and everyday Americans oppose churches endorsing candidates, according to polls cited by FiveThirtyEight. In fact, two-thirds of Americans are against churches choosing sides in elections, says the Pew Research Center, which last year said, “In 2016, 66 percent expressed opposition to church endorsements of candidates.”