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March 3, 2005
With his Social Security plan languishing, President Bush on Tuesday renewed his push to steer federal funds to religious institutions for social services. A day later, the House narrowly passed legislation that would allow these institutions to discriminate in hiring for federally funded programs. Groups such as Catholic Charities, United Jewish Communities, and Lutheran Social Services have long played a vital role in federal service delivery. However, these groups are distinct from any house of worship, and subject to the same standards as all other federal grantees. The president’s “faith-based initiative” threatens to undermine the delivery of social services and open the door for politically motivated grant-making.
- The plan permits discrimination with taxpayer dollars. The just-passed House legislation, backed by President Bush, permits religious organizations to discriminate on the basis of religion when hiring for taxpayer funded positions that are not supposed to involve religious activities, such as the delivery of social services. This means that you could be excluded from employment at a federally funded drug treatment center, for instance, if your religion is not the same as the organization carrying out the program. Hiring for federal programs should be based on who is best qualified, not a person’s religion.
- The Bush plan is about rewarding political allies, not solving social problems. The White House has been more interested in steering funds to its political allies than helping the poor. A former official from Bush's faith-based office, David Kuo, explained that the White House "never really wanted the 'poor people stuff.'" Indeed, the president's recent budget proposal would slash funding for local services (in the form of Community Development Block Grants) by $2 billion, or 35 percent. Jim Towey, the current director of the White House faith-based office, acknowledged that there had been "quite a reduction" in overall grants to charities. At the same time, however, grants to religious organizations, seen by the administration as a key political constituency, have reaped a windfall. According to White House documents, funding to faith-based service providers increased $164 million over the previous year.
- The Bush administration is awarding funds based on religion, not performance. In the absence of congressional approval, the administration has moved forward with the president's plan through executive orders and regulations. Administration officials acknowledged to the Associated Press that this push was "aimed at giving [religious] groups a leg up in the competition for federal money" – which the recent funding increases seem to support. In his speech Tuesday, President Bush asserted, "I'm a results-oriented guy and faith-based organizations are achieving results." Yet no study has ever been produced that supports the notion that religious organizations generally provide superior performance than secular ones. In fact, one recent study showed that secular welfare-to-work programs in Los Angeles outperformed faith-based ones in terms of moving clients off welfare. Religious and secular organizations deserve funding when they get results and do so without discriminating.
Daily Talking Points is a product of the American Progress Action Fund. |
Daily Talking Points is a product of the American Progress Action Fund. |
