Controversial measure in stimulus package gives small business bailouts to churches - Entrepreneur Generations

The recent $2 trillion economic relief package includes a particularly controversial element: unlike in past federal relief packages, churches and other faith-based organizations are eligible for some of the $350 billion allotted for Small Business Administration loans, according to an SBA statement defending the decision.

"Under the new Paycheck Protection Program, businesses with fewer than 500 employees, including faith-based organizations, are eligible to receive loans of up to $10 million, with at least 75 percent of the money going to cover payroll costs," Tom Gjelten reports for NPR. "The loans are in large part forgivable, so churches and other houses of worship won't have to worry about paying all the money back."

The federal government has generally avoided direct funding in past administrations, but has tried to ease the way for religious institutions by freeing them from paying taxes and making donations to such organizations tax-deductible, Gjelten reports. Under current SBA rules, for-profit religious organizations are ineligible for loans, but that rule may soon be eliminated; the SBA statement defending the decision said it was unfair to discriminate against organizations based solely on their religion.

The measure has drawn strong opinions from both corners.

Churches are facing "extreme economic hardship" because of the pandemic and it's a good idea to help them since they provide jobs and other benefits to their communities, writes Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, in an op-ed for Southern Baptist publication Kentucky Today.

However, Hemant Mehta, who blogs for Friendly Atheist, writes that religious organizations should not be allowed to use the funds to promote any religion, and that allowing it violates the First Amendment: "The government’s taxing power should not be wielded to oblige Muslims to bankroll temples, or to coerce Jews to subsidize Christian and Catholic churches, or to force Christians to fund mosques, or to compel the nonreligious to support any of the above."

The stimulus package isn't the first time the administration has directly funded religious organizations. "Under the Trump Administration, the federal government has already been providing funds directly to churches, synagogues, mosques, and other religious organizations," Gjelten reports. "In 2018, the Federal Emergency Management Agency changed its rules to make houses of worship eligible for disaster aid."

from The Rural Blog https://ift.tt/2UR8T2t Controversial measure in stimulus package gives small business bailouts to churches - Entrepreneur Generations

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