The U.S. House is once again considering a budget bill that would allow churches to become unaccountable, unregulated super PACs through which millions, possibly billions, of dollars in dark political money will flow.
The bill would defund all enforcement of the Johnson Amendment, which keeps all 501(c)(3)s, including churches, from endorsing political candidates. But here's the catch: the budget only defunds enforcement against churches; other nonprofits still have to obey the law.
Thanks to your help, this language was removed from the last budget bill by the Senate. Ralph Reed, the chairman of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, has estimated that this attempt to effectively repeal the Johnson Amendment for churches has a “60 percent” chance of getting into the final bill. But with your help putting pressure on lawmakers to oppose this provision while it’s still in early stages, we think we can stop it.
This bill is currently in the House Committee on Appropriations. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., has introduced an amendment to the bill that would remove section 112, the language that endangers the Johnson Amendment.
If your U.S. representative serves on the House Appropriations Committee, https://appropriations.house.gov/about/members/ ask him or her to protect the Johnson Amendment and fund its enforcement. Please contact him or her TODAY — by phone and email if at all possible — and ask your representative to oppose defunding enforcement of the Johnson Amendment. Ask your member of Congress to only support the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill if Rep. Wasserman Schultz’s amendment is accepted.