II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 75 

To ensure equal treatment for religious organizations in the Federal provision 

of social services programs, grantmaking, and contracting, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 25, 2023 

Mr. RUBIO (for himself, Mr. HAWLEY, Mr. SCOTT of Florida, and Mr. 

LANKFORD) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To ensure equal treatment for religious organizations in the 

Federal provision of social services programs, 

grantmaking, and contracting, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Lifting Local Commu5 nities Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

7 The purposes of this Act are the following: 


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1 (1) To enable assistance to be provided to indi2 viduals and families in need in the most effective 

3 manner. 

4 (2) To prohibit discrimination against religious 

5 organizations in receipt and administration of Fed6 eral financial assistance, including the provision of 

7 that assistance through federally funded social serv8 ice programs. 

9 (3) To ensure that religious organizations can 

10 apply and compete for Federal financial assistance 

11 on a level playing field with nonreligious organiza12 tions. 

13 (4) To provide certainty for religious organiza14 tions that receipt of Federal financial assistance will 

15 not obstruct or hinder their ability to organize and 

16 operate in accordance with their sincerely held reli17 gious beliefs. 

18 (5) To strengthen the social service capacity of 

19 the United States by facilitating the entry of new, 

20 and the expansion of existing, efforts by religious or21 ganizations in the administration and provision of 

22 Federal financial assistance. 

23 (6) To protect the religious freedom of, and 

24 better serve, individuals and families in need, includ25 ing by expanding their ability to choose to receive 


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1 federally funded social services from religious organi2 zations. 

3 SEC. 3. PROVISION OF SERVICES FOR GOVERNMENT PRO4 GRAMS BY RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS. 

5 Title XXIV of the Revised Statutes is amended by 

6 inserting after section 1990 (42 U.S.C. 1994) the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 1990A. ENSURING EQUAL TREATMENT FOR RELI9 GIOUS ORGANIZATIONS IN FEDERAL PROVI10 SION OF SOCIAL SERVICES, GRANTMAKING, 

11 AND CONTRACTING. 

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For any social services program 

13 carried out by the Federal Government, or by a State, 

14 local government, or pass-through entity with Federal 

15 funds, the entity that awards Federal financial assistance 

16 shall consider religious organizations, on the same basis 

17 as any other private organization, to provide services for 

18 the program. 

19 ‘‘(b) EQUAL TREATMENT FOR RELIGIOUS ORGANIZA20 TIONS IN FEDERAL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A religious organization 

22 shall be eligible to apply for and to receive Federal 

23 financial assistance to provide services for a social 

24 services program on the same basis as a private non25 religious organization. 


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1 ‘‘(2) SELECTION.—In the selection of recipients 

2 for Federal financial assistance for a social services 

3 program neither the Federal Government nor a 

4 State, local government, or pass-through entity re5 ceiving funds for such program may discriminate for 

6 or against a private organization on the basis of reli7 gion, including the organization’s religious character, 

8 affiliation, or exercise. 

9 ‘‘(3) PROHIBITION AGAINST IMPROPER BURDEN

10 ON RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except in the case of 

12 another applicable provision of law that requires 

13 or provides for a religious exemption or accom14 modation that is equally or more protective of 

15 a religious organization’s religious exercise, the 

16 provisions of subparagraphs (B) through (E) 

17 shall apply for any social services program ad18 ministered by the Federal Government or by a 

19 State, local government, or pass-through entity. 

20 ‘‘(B) EQUAL TREATMENT ON ASSURANCES

21 AND NOTICES.—No document, agreement, cov22 enant, memorandum of understanding, policy, 

23 or regulation, relating to Federal financial as24 sistance shall require religious organizations to 


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1 provide assurances or notices that are not re2 quired of private nonreligious organizations. 

3 ‘‘(C) EQUAL APPLICATION OF RESTRIC4 TIONS.—Any restrictions on the use of funds 

5 received as Federal financial assistance shall 

6 apply equally to religious and private nonreli7 gious organizations. 

8 ‘‘(D) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.—All or9 ganizations that receive Federal financial assist10 ance for a social services program, including re11 ligious organizations, shall carry out eligible ac12 tivities in accordance with all program require13 ments, and other applicable requirements gov14 erning the conduct of activities funded by the 

15 entity that awards Federal financial assistance. 

16 ‘‘(E) NO DISQUALIFICATION BASED ON RE17 LIGION.—No document, agreement, covenant, 

18 memorandum of understanding, policy, or regu19 lation, relating to Federal financial assistance 

20 shall— 

21 ‘‘(i) disqualify religious organizations 

22 from applying for or receiving Federal fi23 nancial assistance for a social services pro24 gram on the basis of the organization’s re25 ligious character or affiliation, or grounds 


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1 that discriminate against the organization 

2 on the basis of the organization’s religious 

3 exercise; or 

4 ‘‘(ii) prohibit the provision of religious 

5 activities or services at the same time or 

6 location as any program receiving such 

7 Federal financial assistance. 

8 ‘‘(c) RELIGIOUS CHARACTER AND FREEDOM.— 

9 ‘‘(1) FREEDOM.—A religious organization that 

10 applies for or receives Federal financial assistance 

11 for a social services program shall retain its inde12 pendence from Federal, State, and local govern13 ments, including its autonomy, right of expression, 

14 religious character or affiliation, authority over its 

15 internal governance, and other aspects of independ16 ence. 

17 ‘‘(2) RELIGIOUS CHARACTER.—A religious or18 ganization that applies for or receives Federal finan19 cial assistance for a social services program may, 

20 among other things— 

21 ‘‘(A) retain religious terms in the organiza22 tion’s name; 

23 ‘‘(B) continue to carry out the organiza24 tion’s mission, including the definition, developVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Feb 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S75.IS S75

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1 ment, practice, and expression of its religious 

2 beliefs; 

3 ‘‘(C) use the organization’s facilities to 

4 provide a program without concealing, remov5 ing, or altering religious art, icons, scriptures, 

6 or other symbols from the facilities; 

7 ‘‘(D) select, promote, or dismiss the mem8 bers of the organization’s governing body and 

9 the organization’s employees on the basis of 

10 their acceptance of or adherence to the religious 

11 tenets of the organization; and 

12 ‘‘(E) include religious references in the or13 ganization’s mission statement and other char14 tering or governing documents. 

15 ‘‘(d) RIGHTS OF COVERED BENEFICIARIES OF SERV16 ICES.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro18 vided in any applicable provision of law that requires 

19 or provides for a religious exemption or accommoda20 tion that is equally or more protective of a religious 

21 organization’s religious exercise, an organization 

22 that receives Federal financial assistance under a so23 cial services program shall not discriminate against 

24 a covered beneficiary in the provision of a federally 


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1 funded program on the basis of religion, a religious 

2 belief, or a refusal to hold a religious belief. 

3 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE.—It shall not be considered 

4 discrimination under paragraph (1) for a program 

5 funded by Federal financial assistance to refuse to 

6 modify any components of the program to accommo7 date a covered beneficiary who participates in the or8 ganization’s program. 

9 ‘‘(3) ALTERNATIVE SERVICES.—If a covered 

10 beneficiary has an objection to the character or af11 filiation of the private organization from which the 

12 beneficiary receives, or would receive, services as 

13 part of the federally funded social services program, 

14 the appropriate Federal, State, or local govern15 mental entity shall provide to such beneficiary (if 

16 otherwise eligible for such services) within a reason17 able period of time after the date of such objection, 

18 a referral for alternative services that— 

19 ‘‘(A) are reasonably accessible to the cov20 ered beneficiary; and 

21 ‘‘(B) have a substantially similar value to 

22 the services that the covered beneficiary would 

23 initially have received from such organization. 

24 ‘‘(4) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

25 ‘covered beneficiary’ means an individual who apVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Feb 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S75.IS S75

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1 plies for or receives services under a social services 

2 program. 

3 ‘‘(e) RELIGIOUS EXEMPTIONS.—A religious organiza4 tion’s exemptions, in title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 

5 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.) (including exemption from 

6 prohibitions in employment discrimination in section 

7 702(a) of that Act (42 U.S.C. 2000e–1(a))), title VIII of 

8 the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.), 

9 title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 

10 1681 et seq.), the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 

11 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.), the Religious Freedom Res12 toration Act (42 U.S.C. 2000bb et seq.), the Religious 

13 Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (42 

14 U.S.C. 2000cc et seq.), or any other provision in law pro15 viding an exemption for a religious organization, shall not 

16 be waived because of the religious organization’s participa17 tion in, or receipt of funds from, a social services program 

18 funded with Federal financial assistance. 

19 ‘‘(f) LIMITED AUDIT.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A religious organization 

21 providing services for a social services program using 

22 Federal financial assistance may segregate Federal 

23 funds and any required matching funds provided for 

24 such program into a separate account or accounts. 

25 Only the separate accounts consisting of Federal 


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1 funds and any required matching funds shall be sub2 ject to audit by the Federal Government with re3 spect to an audit undertaken for the purposes of 

4 oversight of Federal financial assistance. 

5 ‘‘(2) COMMINGLING OF FUNDS.—If a religious 

6 organization providing services for a social services 

7 program using Federal financial assistance contrib8 utes the organization’s own funds in addition to 

9 those funds required by a matching requirement or 

10 agreement to supplement Federal funds, the organi11 zation may segregate the organization’s own funds 

12 that are not matching funds into separate accounts, 

13 or commingle the organization’s own funds that are 

14 not matching funds with the matching funds. If 

15 those funds are commingled, the commingled funds 

16 may all be subject to audit by the Federal Govern17 ment. 

18 ‘‘(g) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.—Any religious or19 ganization that alleges a violation of its rights under this 

20 section and seeks to enforce its rights under this section— 

21 ‘‘(1) may bring an action in a court of com22 petent jurisdiction and assert that violation as a 

23 claim, or assert that violation as a defense in a judi24 cial action; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) may obtain appropriate relief, including at2 torney’s fees, against an entity or agency that com3 mitted such violation. 

4 ‘‘(h) FEDERAL PREEMPTION OF STATE AND LOCAL

5 LAWS.—With respect to any Federal financial assistance 

6 provided to a religious organization for the provision of 

7 a social service program, or such assistance commingled 

8 with State or local funds, no State or political subdivision 

9 of a State may adopt, maintain, enforce, or continue in 

10 effect any law, regulation, rule, or requirement covered by 

11 the provisions of this section, or a rule, regulation, or re12 quirement promulgated under this section. 

13 ‘‘(i) CONSTRUCTION.—The provisions of this section 

14 shall supersede all Federal law (including statutory and 

15 other law, and policies used in the implementation of that 

16 law) that is enacted or issued before the date of enactment 

17 of this section. No provision of law enacted after the date 

18 of the enactment of this section may be construed as lim19 iting, superseding, or otherwise affecting this section, ex20 cept to the extent that it does so by specific reference to 

21 this section. 

22 ‘‘(j) SEVERABILITY.—If any provision of this section 

23 or the application of such provision to any person or cir24 cumstance is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder 

25 of this section and the application of the provisions of such 


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1 to any person or circumstance shall not be affected there2 by. 

3 ‘‘(k) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 ‘‘(1) DISCRIMINATE ON THE BASIS OF AN OR5 GANIZATION’S RELIGIOUS EXERCISE.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘discrimi7 nate’, used with respect to an organization’s re8 ligious exercise, means, on the basis of covered 

9 conduct or motivation, to disfavor an organiza10 tion in a selection process or in oversight, in11 cluding— 

12 ‘‘(i) by failing to select an organiza13 tion; 

14 ‘‘(ii) by disqualifying an organization; 

15 or 

16 ‘‘(iii) by imposing any condition or se17 lection criterion that penalizes or otherwise 

18 disfavors an organization, or has the effect 

19 of so penalizing or disfavoring an organiza20 tion. 

21 ‘‘(B) COVERED CONDUCT OR MOTIVA22 TION.—In this paragraph, the term ‘covered 

23 conduct or motivation’ means— 


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1 ‘‘(i) conduct that would not be consid2 ered grounds to disfavor a nonreligious or3 ganization; 

4 ‘‘(ii) conduct for which an organiza5 tion must or could be granted an exemp6 tion or accommodation in a manner con7 sistent with the Free Exercise Clause of 

8 the First Amendment to the Constitution, 

9 the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (42 

10 U.S.C. 2000bb et seq.), or any other provi11 sion referenced in subsection (e); or 

12 ‘‘(iii) the actual or suspected religious 

13 motivation for the organization’s religious 

14 exercise. 

15 ‘‘(2) OTHER DEFINITIONS.— 

16 ‘‘(A) FEDERAL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.— 

17 The term ‘Federal financial assistance’ means 

18 financial assistance from the Federal Govern19 ment that non-Federal entities receive or ad20 minister through grants, contracts, loans, loan 

21 guarantees, property, cooperative agreements, 

22 food commodities, direct appropriations, or 

23 other assistance, but does not include a tax 

24 credit, tax deduction, or guaranty contract. 


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1 ‘‘(B) PASS-THROUGH ENTITY.—The term 

2 ‘pass-through entity’ means an entity, including 

3 a nonprofit or nongovernmental organization, 

4 acting under a grant, contract, or other agree5 ment with the Federal Government or with a 

6 State or local government, such as a State ad7 ministering agency, that accepts direct Federal 

8 financial assistance as a primary recipient (such 

9 as a grant recipient) and distributes that assist10 ance to other organizations that, in turn, pro11 vide government-funded social services through 

12 a social services program. 

13 ‘‘(C) PROGRAM.—The term ‘program’ in14 cludes the services provided through that pro15 gram. 

16 ‘‘(D) RELIGIOUS EXERCISE.—The term 

17 ‘religious exercise’ has the meaning given the 

18 term in section 8 of the Religious Land Use 

19 and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (42 

20 U.S.C. 2000cc–5). 

21 ‘‘(E) SERVICES.—The term ‘services’, used 

22 with respect to a social services program, in23 cludes the provision of goods, or of financial as24 sistance, under the social services program. 


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1 ‘‘(F) SOCIAL SERVICES PROGRAM.—The 

2 term ‘social services program’— 

3 ‘‘(i) means a program that is adminis4 tered by the Federal Government, or by a 

5 State or local government using Federal fi6 nancial assistance, and that provides serv7 ices directed at reducing poverty, improv8 ing opportunities for low-income children, 

9 revitalizing low-income communities, em10 powering low-income families and low-in11 come individuals to become self-sufficient, 

12 or otherwise helping people in need; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) includes a program that provides, 

14 to people in need— 

15 ‘‘(I) child care services, protective 

16 services for children and adults, serv17 ices for children and adults in foster 

18 care, adoption services, services re19 lated to management and mainte20 nance of the home, day care services 

21 for adults, and services to meet the 

22 special needs of children, older indi23 viduals, and individuals with disabil24 ities; 

25 ‘‘(II) transportation services; 


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1 ‘‘(III) job training and related 

2 services, and employment services; 

3 ‘‘(IV) information, referral, and 

4 counseling services; 

5 ‘‘(V) the preparation and delivery 

6 of meals, nutrition services, and serv7 ices related to soup kitchens or food 

8 banks; 

9 ‘‘(VI) health support services; 

10 ‘‘(VII) literacy and mentoring 

11 services; 

12 ‘‘(VIII) services for the preven13 tion and treatment of juvenile delin14 quency and substance abuse, services 

15 for the prevention of crime and the 

16 provision of assistance to the victims 

17 and families of criminal offenders, and 

18 services related to intervention in, and 

19 prevention of, domestic violence; or 

20 ‘‘(IX) services related to the pro21 vision of assistance for housing under 

22 Federal law.’’. 

Æ 


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