WASHINGTON, March 3 (UPI) -- Rep. Walter Jones Jr., R-N.C., plans to reintroduce legislation permitting churches to play a greater role in U.S. the political process.
The bill, the Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act, would lift a 50-year-old restriction on churches endorsing candidates for public office. That ban also applies to all nonprofit organizations, which would not be covered by Jones's legislation.
Jones says the measure has a better chance than ever of passing this year, Roll Call said Thursday, because he intends to add it as an amend to another piece of legislation rather than introduce the bill on its own
The bill is expected to encounter opposition from groups like Americans United, which calls lifting the ban unwise and unconstitutional.
Despite the ban on religious institutions making endorsements in political races, politicians frequently visit churches and synagogues, particularly during campaign season. Critics say threats to enforce the ban are more often made against white evangelical congregations than predominantly black churches, whose members tend to vote Democrat.
