The Maine Legislature is considering a bill that will financially favor churches. Please take a few moments to contact your lawmakers and urge them to oppose this measure.
The bill, LD 1063, would allow churches — and only churches — to self-insure their automobiles. Effectively, this would exempt select religious organizations from car insurance requirements in the state. The bill only applies to religious organizations that have “established tenets and faith-based teachings” and have existed since at least 1950. This not only economically favors religion over nonreligion, but also discriminates against newer religions.
Additionally, the bill allows the secretary of state to deny an organization’s request for this exemption if there are other “factors causing the secretary of state to believe that the religious organization and its members do not have the financial ability to pay any future judgments against them.” This effectively gives the official total control over which churches qualify for this unusual exemption.
The Maine Committee on Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services has a hearing scheduled on this bill on Thursday, April 1, at 1:30 p.m. local time. Click on the red “Take Action” link below to use our automated system to contact all members of this committee and urge them to vote no on this discriminatory measure. Feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided.
