Congress Advances Bill Allowing Disaster Funds For Synagogues
Image by Wikipedia
(JTA) — A congressional committee has approved a bill that allows federal disaster relief funds to go to houses of worship.
Thursday’s unanimous vote in the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee sends the measure to the full U.S. House of Representatives for approval.
Previously, relief funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, could not go to churches, synagogues and other houses of worship due to concerns about separation of church and state. Other institutions, like community centers or zoos, could receive the funds. The money reimburses the institutions for aid they provide to victims of natural disasters.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers has long pushed for the change. In September, amid a string of hurricanes ravaging the Gulf Coast and Caribbean, President Trump tweeted his support for churches receiving FEMA funds.
According to the text of the bill, “A church, synagogue, mosque, temple, or other house of worship, and a private nonprofit facility operated by a religious organization, shall be eligible for contributions … without regard to the religious character of the facility or the primary religious use of the facility.”
The Orthodox Union, an umbrella Orthodox body that has advocated such a change for years, said the bill will mean synagogues receive fair treatment.
“We welcome this policy change, which will end FEMA’s discriminatory treatment of synagogues, churches, mosques and other houses of worship damaged in natural disasters,” said O.U. President Mark Bane in a statement Thursday. “This has been a long time in coming, and we appreciate the support from our legislators as well as the Trump Administration.”
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
