A proposed federal rule by the Biden administration would undo a Trump-era policy that currently allows religious organizations to discriminate while using taxpayer funds under a government contract. The window for comments on this positive change is closing on Thursday, and you can count on religious zealots to show up in force to oppose the new rule. Please take a moment to tell the Department of Labor that it is doing the right thing.
The proposed rule, titled “Proposal to Rescind Implementing Legal Requirements Regarding the Equal Opportunity Clause’s Religious Exemption,” reverses the Trump administration’s harmful lurch toward discrimination. (This still falls short, unfortunately, of adequately ensuring that taxpayer dollars will not be used to fund discrimination because it reverts to an imperfect rule put in place by President George W. Bush in 2002.)
The Freedom From Religion Foundation has submitted a comment praising the new rule but noting its imperfection since the federal government should never sanction discrimination. The proposed rule moves in the right direction, even if it does not fully arrive there. FFRF strongly supports this rescission of the 2020 rule.
Click the “take action” button and say that no one should be allowed to discriminate based on religion.
STEPS TO COMMENT:
Click on the red “Take action” link below, which goes to the official comment page.
Fill out the corresponding comment form. We have provided suggested talking points below. Feel free to copy and paste the suggested message, or review FFRF’s comment for more ideas. Personalized comments are most influential. Make sure your comments mention the rule’s “RIN #,” which is 1250-AA09.
All comments are due by Thursday (Dec. 9)! Please take action today.
Suggested talking points:
I strongly support this proposed rule, entitled “Proposal to Rescind Implementing Legal Requirements Regarding the Equal Opportunity Clause’s Religious Exemption,” with RIN # 1250-AA09. As a taxpayer, I do not want religious organizations using my federal tax dollars to discriminate. If they want to compete for government contracts, they should have to play by the same rules as everyone else and agree not to discriminate.
Ideally, government contractors should not be allowed to discriminate for any reason whatsoever. There is no need to extend the religious exemption from Title VII to government contractors. Still, this proposed rule is a solid move in the right direction.
