On May 9th a panel of religious leaders, a former IRS Commissioner and a campaign finance expert presented a series of problems raised by the Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act (H.R. 235). The bill, which now has 124 co-sponsors, would allow houses of worship to take sides in elections during any service, meeting, or other gathering. While the version of the bill introduced in the current Congress limits electioneering to religious services (unlike a similar bill in the 107th Congress), panelists raised concerns that it would result in houses of worship becoming soft money conduits. At the briefing, Sheldon S. Cohen, a former Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, noted the history behind the prohibition on partisan electioneering for all 501(c)(3) organizations -- to prevent an indirect tax subsidy for partisan activity based on tax deductibility of donations to religious organizations. Cohen noted that under current law there are no restrictions on a congregation's ability to talk about any issues, saying "Most of what they [the bill's sponsors] complain about is artificial. The point is subsidy vs. non-subsidy." Since last year's Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act only applies to federal elections, and tax law applies at the federal, state and local level, passage of the bill would create "open season" for church based campaigning at the state and local level, Cohen said. Glen Shor of the Campaign and Legal Media Center said that although this bill is narrower than one introduced last year, it would allow widespread distribution of partisan messages from religious events. For more background see our February 24, 2003 Watcher article.