In an unusual case, 31 religious leaders in Ohio have written to the IRS objecting to inaction on a complaint against two Ohio mega-churches and their affiliates. The complaint filed in January alleges violation of the tax law's prohibition on partisan electoral activity by 501(c)(3) groups, which include religious organizations. Fairfield Christian Church, World Harvest Church and their respective affiliates, according to the group of pastors, carried out activities intended to help Republican Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell in his bid for Ohio's governorship. On April 7 the New York Times reported that, according to World Harvest spokesman Giles Hudson, the IRS had not yet contacted the organization about the complaint. The lag time is inconsistent with standards set out in the new IRS 2006 Political Activities Compliance Initiative (PACI). The controversy began on Jan. 16 when 31 pastors, lead by Rev. Eric Williams of the North Congregational Church of Christ in Columbus, sent a 13-page letter to IRS Commissioner Mark Everson alleging violations by World Harvest and its affiliates Reformation Ohio and the Center for Moral Clarity; and by Fairfield Christian and its affiliate the Ohio Restoration Project. All five groups are 501(c)(3) organizations. The letter asks for an IRS investigation into whether the groups' tax-exempt status should be revoked; it also requests that the IRS seek an injunction to stop further flagrant violations. Three categories of activity were cited:

• sponsoring events featuring Blackwell but no other candidates,
• partisan voter registration drives, and
• distribution of biased voter guides.

Rev. Rod Parsley of World Harvest and Rev. Russell Johnson of Fairfield Christian denied their actions are partisan, accusing the complaining pastors of an "unholy alliance" with the secular left. Williams countered, saying, "The law allows church involvement in issues. This goes beyond issue-involvement to partisan politics and we're simply asking the IRS to uphold the law." The pastors filing the complaint acquired assistance from Marcus Owens, an attorney with Caplin and Drysdale in Washington, D.C. and a former director of the IRS-exempt organizations division. On Jan. 16 Owens told the Columbus Dispatch that the complaint was extensively documented, noting "You have a number of churches and charities involved with a number of road trips for Mr. Blackwell, all of which seem to be aimed at gaining him visibility for his political campaign." The complaint cites nine events where Blackwell was a featured speaker but no other candidates were invited. (Democrat gubernatorial candidate Brain Flannery said he has never been invited to an event organized by the churches or their affiliates.) For example, at an October 2005 event at the Ohio statehouse sponsored by Reformation Ohio, Rev. Parsley shared the dais with Blackwell and called for registration of 400,000 new voters statewide. In addition, Fairfield Christian let the Fairfield County Republican Party Central Committee meet at its facility without charge, with Committee Chair Carl Tatman saying, "The church was nice enough to volunteer the space as a donation." A Republican fundraiser was held at the church a month later. The IRS requires 501(c)(3) organizations to charge market rates for political use of their space. The day after the complaint was filed the Columbus Dispatch reported that Blackwell told the pastors to ignore it, calling the 31 religious leaders who signed it "bullies." The next day Blackwell was the only candidate invited to speak to 450 pastors at a luncheon in Canton sponsored by the Ohio Restoration Project. On April 7 the 31 pastors again wrote a letter to the IRS citing further incidents of partisan activity and inquiring as to why no action had been taken. The group suspects the IRS is not enforcing the law even-handedly, citing an audit of a liberal California church for a sermon criticizing the war in Iraq that was delivered before the 2004 election. In the California case, All Saints Episcopal church received a letter from the IRS notifying it of the investigation in September 2005 and received a follow-up letter the next month. Church officials have not heard from the IRS since that time, although the October IRS letter said a document information request would be coming. Law prohibits the IRS from commenting on the status of such investigations. Nonetheless, the lack of action by the IRS would appear surprising in light of new procedures, called the Political Activities Compliance Initiative. Under PACI, the IRS has said it will expedite complaints about partisan political activity. Special procedures apply in church cases, but the PACI program outlines seven steps that should take no more than 54 days. Since the complaint was sent to the IRS on January 17, some action could be expected by mid-March. The fact that World Harvest and Fairfield Christian have not been contacted by the IRS could mean no decision on whether or not to investigate has been made, indicating that the IRS is behind on its PACI deadlines. If it means a decision to take no action has been made, serious questions about equitable application of the threshold used in the PACI program--that a "reasonable belief" that a violation has occurred exists--need to be asked.