Lawmaker urges passage of Fair Treatment of Religious Organizations Act to limit IRS scrutiny

A lawmaker opening a committee markup introduced the Fair Treatment of Religious Organizations Act and urged colleagues to approve the measure to prevent federal agencies from using religious beliefs about marriage, sexuality and gender identity as a basis for tax-exempt determinations.

“I introduced the Fair Treatment of Religious Organizations Act to ensure there was no encroachment on that freedom,” the lawmaker said, arguing the bill would create clear standards to avoid case-by-case litigation and shifting administrative interpretations. The speaker said the measure would specifically limit the IRS and other federal agencies from making tax-related determinations based on religious beliefs relating to marriage, sexuality and gender identity.

The lawmaker cited the 2020 Supreme Court decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, saying the court’s interpretation of Title VII created tensions for religious employers. Reading from the decision, the lawmaker said Justice Gorsuch “acknowledged the tension this ruling would create with religious employers,” and described the bill as an effort to resolve that tension without prescribing which beliefs are protected.

The speaker also alleged past administrative abuses, stating that the Obama-era IRS had “singled out conservative groups,” and asserting that the Biden administration denied tax-exempt status to a nonprofit because its beliefs were “typically affiliated with the Republican Party.” No response or evidence from agency officials appears in the markup record provided in the transcript.

The lawmaker framed the bill as defending a broad conception of religious freedom and as providing “interpretive stability for religious organizations.” They urged colleagues from both parties to back the legislation and then yielded back to the chair. The transcript records only the introductory remarks; no vote or formal action on the bill is recorded in the provided segments.