Evidence emerges that faith-based charities are not discriminated against, but instead they are being favored. Last Tuesday during his State of the Union address, President Bush urged Congress to open up billions of dollars in grant money to competition that includes faith-based charities. In doing so he states, "Tonight I ask you codify this into law, so people of faith can know that the law will never discriminate against them again." In Massachusetts, John F. Downing runs a homeless shelter and substance abuse program for veterans. According to reports by The Roundtable on Religion and Social Welfare Policy, last year Downing's shelter was denied a $415,000 grant renewal from the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) because preference was given to faith-based providers. However, this year Downing decided to register his charity as a faith-based organization with the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, which made him eligible for technical assistance and information about grants opportunities. After registering, Downing contacted his representatives in Congress, whose staff helped with the preparation for grant applications. He also testified before Congress to explain the level of veteran homelessness in his community and his organization's loss of funds. A year later, Downing and his newly registered faith-based organization, United Veterans of America Inc.(UVA), had a influx of federal funds. UVA received grants and loans from the VA, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the Federal Home Loan Bank. UVA never changed its name, nor changed the programs offered at the shelter. Yet after registering as a faith-based group they received almost $2 million in federal funds one year after it was denied $415,000. Both the VA and HUD claim that UVA’s faith-based status had nothing to do with their decisions. In Oklahoma City, State Rep. Debbie Blackburn (D-Oklahoma City) became concerned over whether their state Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (OFBCI) is showing favoritism toward evangelical Christian groups in awarding state contracts for social services. The problem was brought to Blackburn's attention by other faith-based organizations in her district who claim that an annual $45,000 contract given by the Department of Human Services, which funds and houses the OFBCI, was specifically designed for an evangelical Christian group. The contract, which was awarded to Cornerstone Tulsa, is an intermediary and provides technical assistance to faith-based organizations. Norman Transcript reports that OFBCI director Bradley Yarbrough was aware that Cornerstone Tulsa had some "isolated problems" with fulfilling the terms of the contract after receiving the funding, but those have since "cleared-up." Blackburn and Yarbrough have met over this issue.