Chris Lange, FISM News
President Biden’s $1.75 trillion Build Back Better Act, which includes an investment of nearly $400 billion into child care and universal pre-K, will prohibit funding for church-operated schools and child care facilities that provide religious instruction. Specifically, the bill will deny federal grants for agencies “that are primarily used for sectarian instruction or religious worship; or…in which a substantial portion of the functions of the facilities are subsumed in a religious mission.”
While the bill does allow federal grant monies to be used towards construction and improvement projects for buildings “primarily used for the provision of child care services by a child care provider,” it specifically excludes such funding for churches, synagogues, and other religious organizations that engage children in religious instruction or activities.
Since 1990, the federal Child Care and Development Block Grant program (CCDBG) has included specific language allowing “religious providers” to “receive assistance on the same basis as nonsectarian providers.”
Biden’s Build Back Better plan will also deny funding to early-childhood education providers that fail to adopt Head Start’s “non-discrimination” requirements prohibiting sex-segregated facilities.
A number of church and religious groups have voiced strenuous objections to the bill as it stands, including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops who say many of its provisions “do not align” with the preservation of religious liberty and inhibit broad access to early childhood education. “Expanded access to early child care and pre-K would be beneficial for many working families,” they said in a statement, pointing out, however, that “current provisions to do so — in a departure from the approach in existing federal programs — explicitly make providers recipients of federal financial assistance and attach new and troubling compliance obligations.”
ERLS, the political arm of the Southern Baptist Convention, issued a memo expressing concern over language in the bill that would deny funding to organizations for refusing to ascribe to progressive gender ideology on religious grounds. “Congress should ensure that programs and funding opportunities do not exclude people or organizations who operate from deeply held religious beliefs. This legislation must ensure that recipients of funding will not be required to adhere to sexual orientation and gender identity language as a prerequisite for being able to participate in certain programs.” The ERLS also wants pro-life protections placed back in the bill, including the Hyde Amendment which prevents taxpayer-funded Medicaid from covering the cost of abortions.
According to a FOX News report, a proposed amendment aimed at striking down the bill’s discriminatory requirements for church-run schools and child care operations was previously submitted by Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) but failed to gain traction in the September House’s Ways and Means committee markup.
“The congressman was disappointed that Democrats wouldn’t grant such a simple request to help our children during previous negotiations,” said a spokesperson for Kelly. “His Religious Freedom Amendment was an inclusive bill that would have given parents greater choice and allow them to pick a child care service that was best for them.”
House Democrats had hoped to vote on the bill Friday; however, that vote has been postponed to Nov. 20 to allow for a nonpartisan accounting of its costs requested by party moderates. President Biden’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill was approved by the House late Friday following months of negotiations and infighting among Democratic lawmakers.