During the George W. Bush presidency, religious nonprofits that wanted to receive federal and state funds for charitable projects were given greater access to taxpayer dollars through the Faith-Based Initiative program. Religious charities could now be housed in houses of worship instead of needing to be their own separate nonprofit. This prevents the public from seeing how any government money received is spent because houses of worship do not have to file public accountability forms. Faith-based charity groups may also include non-mandatory proselytizing and discriminate in their hiring practices against anyone who does not share their beliefs.

We oppose any use of tax dollars to fund proselytization and discriminatory hiring practices. We call upon the Obama administration to close legal loopholes that allow these groups to continue to receive taxpayer funding while not adhering to non-discrimination policies in place for other federal contractors.