As Elections Near, New Complaints of Partisan Activity Filed Against Religious Groups

New complaints filed with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) accuse churches in Missouri and Texas of participating in partisan political activities that are prohibited under the tax code. Meanwhile, Focus on the Family announced a new voter mobilization drive aimed at evangelical churches which will likely result in IRS complaints before the November elections. Both developments highlight the continued confusion and ambiguity that have plagued IRS policy on voter education and mobilization activities by nonprofits. Missouri Catholic Conference and Voter Education on Stem Cell Research On July 25, the Kansas City Star reported that a complaint had been filed with the IRS on the previous month against the Missouri Catholic Conference (MCC), alleging it engaged in prohibited partisan electioneering. The complaint claims that MCC sent more than 50 letters to candidates for the state legislature threatening negative publicity as a result of accepting campaign contributions from Supporters of Health Research and Treatments (SHRT), a group that supports medical research including stem cell research. At issue is a state constitutional amendment pending in the legislature, which would ban human cloning but also ban state and local government from discouraging stem cell research allowed under federal law. MCC opposes the amendment, and obtained information on SHRT contributions from the Missouri Ethics Commission. One such letter, sent to Rep. Jim Guest (R-King City), copied in the complaint, which was filed by Washington, D.C. attorney Marcus Owens. The letter points out that Guest had received $300 from SHRT, and explains that MCC "is committed to informing Missouri voters about campaign contributions promoting human cloning and embryonic stem cell research, and will report to Missouri voters regarding candidates who choose to associate themselves with this and similar organizations that promote such unethical practices. Therefore, if you have received but returned such a contribution or contributions, the MCC would like to report this fact to Missouri voters." The letter goes on to ask for documentation proving return of the SHRT donation. Guest, who has not returned the money, told The New York Times, "I'm not sure if extortion is the right word, but they basically threatened me if I didn't return the money, and that's certainly stepping across the line." MCC has demonstrated its intention of following through and publicizing information about candidates that take money from SHRT. The complaint includes copies of two MCC publications listing, in a negative context, legislators and candidates that received such contributions. For example, the March 10, 2006 issue of the St. Louis Review Online, the weekly newspaper of the St. Louis Archdiocese, lists the SHRT contribution recipients and reminds readers that, "The Church has condemned embryonic stem-cell research as immoral..." According to Owens' complaint to the IRS, the MCC's letter "is a crude attempt at intimidation, designed to threaten political candidates into submission by using church resources.". Owens also points out that MCC, as a Catholic organization, has access to information from the General Counsel of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops that provides clear guidelines on what is and is not partisan activity. As a result, Owens maintains MCC's actions are a "knowing and willful attempt by the MCC to manipulate political candidates and engage in prohibited campaign intervention by disseminating favorable and unfavorable statements about candidates." Owens asks the IRS to therefore "take immediate action," including conducting a church tax inquiry under IRS rules and seeking an injunction in federal court that would prevent further violations. The case deals with both permissible lobbying and advocacy on the state constitutional amendment and apparently impermissible attacks on legislators and candidates in their capacity as candidates not decision makers. It is difficult to predict what the IRS will do with this complaint, and unless MCC releases information about any IRS action privacy laws will keep the results confidential. Catholic Online, a prominent Catholic news site, however, reported on Aug. 21 that the IRS has apparently decided to take no action against the Archdiocese of St. Louis over statements made by Archbishop Raymond Burke's before the 2004 election. The Archbishop told Catholic voters to support pro-life candidates and oppose pro-choice candidates, prompting Catholics for Free Choice to file a complaint. In sharp contrast is the IRS action against All Saints Episcopal Church of Pasadena, California. (See Supplement B: Publicly Disclosed Cases from OMB Watch’s recent report on the IRS's Political Activities Compliance Initiative.) Texas Congregation Seeks Return of Contribution to GOP Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU) issued a press release on July 19 announcing it has filed a complaint at the IRS against Calvary Temple Church in Kerrville, Texas, because of contributions the church made to the Republican Party totaling $1,500 between 2003 and 2005. A few days later Calvary Temple pastor Del Way told the Kerrville Daily Times the contribution was for advertising as part of a golf tournament and was not intended to endorse a political party. According to Way, the church has written to the Republican Party asking it to return the funds. AU discovered the payment in records at the Texas Ethics Commission. The Republican Party has not yet announced its decision regarding return of the funds, saying it had used the money for administrative purposes. However, such use would be a violation of IRS rules. Focus on the Family Voter Drive Targets Evangelical Churches On Aug. 15, Focus on the Family issued a statement announcing an eight-state initiative to increase turnout among evangelical voters. Dubbed iVoteValues.org, the project will focus on Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey and Tennessee. According to the statement, Focus on the Family is "recruiting key evangelical churches" and "church coordinators" to conduct a wide variety of voter registration and mobilization activities. A response from AU Executive Director Rev. Barry Lynn said Focus on the Family leader James Dobson has "made it abundantly clear that electing Republicans is an integral part of his agenda, and he doesn't mind risking the tax exemption of churches in the process. Dobson wants to be a major political boss, and this is his way to get there."
back to Blog