House Defeats Church Electioneering Bill - Lobbying and Speech Rights

Lobbying and Speech Rights: News Background Analysis Correspondence Blog

Published: 10/02/2002

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House Defeats Church Electioneering Bill

The House of Representatives defeated H.R. 2357, which would have allowed religious organizations to endorse candidates and spend tax deductible funds on partisan election activities, by a wide margin on Oct. 2. The final vote- 178 YEA - 239 NAY - 15 Not Voting- reflected concerns about separation of church and state and campaign finance reform.

In the debate on the bill, which lasted late into the night of Oct. 1, Represenatives Bobby Scott (D-VA), John Lewis (D-GA), Amo Houghton (R-NY), Chris Shays (R-CT) and Chet Edwards (D-TX) argued against passage. On Friday, September 27, religious leaders from the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs and the National Council of Churches, joined by OMB Watch and the Campaign and Media Legal Center, spoke at a Capitol Hill briefing about the negative impact partisan politics can have on religious organizations and the ways the bill would open up huge loopholes in campaign finance laws. For more information see our Fact Sheet on H.R. 2357.