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Fair Treatment of Religious Organizations Act of 2026
To ensure fair treatment of certain charitable organizations and recipients of Federal financial assistance, and for other purposes.
Summary
This bill amends tax law to require that religious purpose determinations for tax-exempt status be made without regard to an organization's beliefs or practices concerning marriage, sexuality, or gender identity. The bill specifies that beliefs do not need to be central to a system of religion or mandated by religious doctrine to be considered religious beliefs. The bill also prohibits Federal agencies from discriminating against or disadvantaging religious employers that apply for or receive Federal financial assistance, including grants, loans, and contracts, based on their employment practices that align with their religious beliefs and standards. The bill protects religious employers' rights to hire individuals who share their religious beliefs consistent with existing exemptions under Federal law. These provisions apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
13 cosponsors
- Rep. Alford, Mark [R-MO-4] (R-MO)
- Rep. Cline, Ben [R-VA-6] (R-VA)
- Rep. Fulcher, Russ [R-ID-1] (R-ID)
- Rep. Gooden, Lance [R-TX-5] (R-TX)
- Rep. Grothman, Glenn [R-WI-6] (R-WI)
- Rep. Maloy, Celeste [R-UT-2] (R-UT)
- Rep. Mann, Tracey [R-KS-1] (R-KS)
- Rep. Moran, Nathaniel [R-TX-1] (R-TX)
- Rep. Owens, Burgess [R-UT-4] (R-UT)
- Rep. Schweikert, David [R-AZ-1] (R-AZ)
- Rep. Steube, W. Gregory [R-FL-17] (R-FL)
- Rep. Tenney, Claudia [R-NY-24] (R-NY)
- Rep. Walberg, Tim [R-MI-5] (R-MI)
Actions (2)
- Mar 26, 2026 Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned. · house
- Mar 26, 2026 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 26, 2026
Mr. Moore of Utah (for himself, Mr. Cline, Mr. Fulcher, Mr. Gooden, Ms. Tenney, Mr. Owens, Mr. Moran, and Mr. Schweikert) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To ensure fair treatment of certain charitable organizations and recipients of Federal financial assistance, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Fair Treatment of Religious Organizations Act of 2026”.
SEC. 2. DETERMINATION OF RELIGIOUS PURPOSE FOR PURPOSES OF TAX-EXEMPT STATUS.
(1) In general.—Section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
“(s) Determination of Religious Purpose.—
“(1) In general.—For purposes of this section, any determination of whether a purpose is a religious purpose shall be made without regard to the organization’s religious beliefs or practices concerning marriage, sexuality, or gender identity, and without regard to whether such beliefs or practices are otherwise inconsistent with law or public policy.
“(2) Interpretation of religious belief.—A belief shall not fail to be treated as a religious belief for purposes of paragraph (1) merely because such belief is not compelled by or central to a system of religion.”.
(2) Effective date.—The amendment made by this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025.
SEC. 3. NONDISCRIMINATORY FEDERAL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.
No branch, department, or agency of the Federal Government shall, with respect to any employer that is a religious corporation, religious association, religious educational institution, or religious society that applies for or receives Federal grants, loans, or other financial assistance under a contract or subcontract, grant, purchase order, or cooperative agreement with the Federal Government, discriminate against or disadvantage such employer for employment actions or practices consistent with the right to employ persons who share the religious beliefs and comply with the religious standards of the employer, including the exemptions and defenses described in sections 702(a) and 703(e)(2) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e-1(a) and 42 U.S.C. 2000e-2(e)(2)), section 103(d) of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12113(d)), the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 2000bb et seq.), and the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. <all>
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