Religion News Service
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 8, 2003: The U.S. House of Representatives has approved a bill that allows church-run job training programs to use federal money to hire only people who share their faith. The provision, included in the US$6.6 billion Workforce Investment Act, reverses 20-year-old rules to allow religious groups to discriminate in hiring on the basis of religion. The change would extend an exemption used by religious groups in private hiring to employees paid for with federal money. The jobs bill passed the House on a 220-to-204 vote. “Faith-based organizations cannot be expected to sustain their religious mission without the ability to employ individuals who share in their tenets and practices,” said Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, R-Colo., according to The New York Times. “It is that very faith that motivates these people to help Americans that are in trouble.” Democrats and church-state groups, however, said the new rules turn back the clock on civil rights protections. The jobs bill now heads to the Senate, where opponents are more hopeful the discrimination language will be removed.