Ron Wyden, a Democratic Senator, said that a proposal in the GOP tax bill allowing churches and charities to engage in partisan politics has been blocked by a Senate parliamentarian, The Hill reports.
According to Wyden’s office, the repeal of the Johnson Amendment, which would have let churches endorse political candidates, has been blocked.
“I will continue to fight all attempts to eliminate this critical provision that keeps the sanctity of our religious institutions intact, prevents the flow of dark money in politics, and keeps taxpayer dollars from advancing special interest biddings,” Wyden said in a statement.
Senator James Lankford has expressed disappointment that the measure was not allowed into the tax bill.
“The federal government and the IRS should never have the ability, through our tax code, to limit free speech; this tax reform bill was an appropriate place to address this historic tax problem. Nonprofits are allowed to lobby Congress or their local elected officials, but the ambiguity of the current tax code keeps nonprofits in constant fear that they might have crossed a line that no other organization has to consider,” he said.
The repeal was added to the House bill last month, but has not been included in the Senate bill. The House bill would for a limited period of time allow nonprofits to engage in political speech in the ordinary course of its activities, provided that the organization did not incur significant expenses while doing so.
President Donald Trump promised to repeal the amendment during his pre-election campaign last year. The amendment has been part of the tax code since 1954 and it prohibits churches and other tax-exempt organizations to participate in some political activity.
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