Sponsors (14)
The bill expands and clarifies protections that let religious organizations and employers keep tax benefits and federal funding while acting on religious beliefs or preferring co-religionist hiring, trading broader religious-liberty protections for weakened nondiscrimination enforcement, increased risk of discrimination (particularly against LGBTQ+ people and nonco-religionist employees), and potential fiscal and administrative costs.
Religious organizations and religious employers (including nonprofits) can retain or gain tax-exempt status and continue to access federal grants, loans, contracts, and cooperative agreements even when they hold or act on religious beliefs about marriage, sexuality, gender identity or prefer co-religionist hiring.
Organizations seeking 501(c) status or federal funding face a broader, clearer standard for what counts as a ‘religious belief,’ reducing the risk that the IRS or agencies will deny exemptions or funding based on perceived conflicts with public policy and making eligibility decisions more predictable.
Religious employers keep existing statutory protections and defenses (e.g., Title VII religious exemptions, ADA, RFRA, First Amendment) for employment actions tied to faith when applying for or receiving federal funds, which may lower litigation risk for those employers.
LGBTQ+ people may face continued or expanded discriminatory practices by organizations that retain tax-exempt status or federal funding, with reduced practical recourse because such organizations can keep benefits despite policies that exclude or disadvantage LGBTQ+ individuals.
Employees and job applicants (including those not in the employer’s faith community) may lose protections from employment discrimination if religious employers receiving federal funds can lawfully prefer co-religionists in hiring or employment decisions.
Taxpayers may effectively subsidize organizations whose practices conflict with public-policy objectives (such as nondiscrimination), raising moral concerns and potential fiscal subsidy of discriminatory activity.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Requires tax and federal agencies to ignore beliefs about marriage, sexuality, and gender identity when judging "religious" status and bars federal disadvantage of religious employers for religion‑based hiring/practices.
Official title: To ensure fair treatment of certain charitable organizations and recipients of Federal financial assistance, and for other purposes.
Introduced March 26, 2026 by Blake D. Moore · Last progress March 26, 2026
Revises federal law to broaden and protect the treatment of organizations as "religious" for tax and federal funding purposes and to block federal agencies from disadvantaging religious employers that hire or set employment standards based on religious beliefs. It requires tax officials to ignore an organization’s beliefs or practices about marriage, sexuality, or gender identity when deciding whether the organization has a "religious purpose," and forbids federal departments and agencies from discriminating against religious employers when they apply for or receive federal grants, loans, contracts, or cooperative agreements for employment practices consistent with their religious standards. The tax change applies to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025.