President Bush issued two executive orders today to promote faith-based and other community based organizations. One Order creates, within 30 days, a new White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (OFBCI); the other Order requires Justice, Education, Labor, HHS, and HUD to create new Centers for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives within 45 days. The second Order also requires all federal departments and agencies to appoint a liaison to the OFBCI. The new agency Centers will coordinate efforts to "eliminate regulatory, contracting, and other programmatic obstacles to the participation of faith-based and other community organizations in the provision of social services." More specifically, each Center is to conduct an audit of barriers, incorporate faith-based and other community organizations "to the greatest extent possible," propose efforts to remove barriers, propose pilots and demonstration programs to increase participation in "Federal as well as State and local initiatives," and improve dissemination of information to faith-based and other community organizations. In addition, The Departments of Health and Human Services and Labor are to study funding streams governed by "charitable choice" and promote compliance with such legislation. The White House OFBCI will coordinate much of the activity in government regarding faith-based groups, including development and integration of administration policies. The OFBCI will deal with more than faith-based groups. It appears that the Office will also "strengthen the institutions of civil society and America's families and communities." Although heavily tilted to faith-based concerns, the OFBCI is also supposed to "showcase and herald innovative grassroots nonprofit organizations and civic initiatives." The White House released a list of participants who attended the faith-based event today. Most were ministries or conservative groups with a couple of notable exceptions. Despite the publicity generated by the White House event, many charities and religious groups are uncomfortable with the heavy emphasis on faith-based services. A new coalition is forming that is raising a host of issues about "charitable choice." There is some irony in today's announcements. Under "charitable choice" there can be a merging of services and religious message as long as federal funding is not used to pay for the non-secular message. The wall of separation is diminished. The irony is that one week ago President Bush, through executive memo, created an unusual wall of separation. He prohibited the granting of federal funds to international groups that use their own money to advocate for changes in their countries' abortion laws, provide abortions or provide counseling on such issues. It seems political message may be more important that consistency. The two Executive Orders are at http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/orders/. Update (1/30/01) President Bush held an event today at The Fishing School, a faith-based family support and service center in Washington, DC, to promote his "faith-based and community initiatives." He was joined by Sens. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) and Rick Santorum (R-PA) and Reps. Mark Souder (R-IN) and Tony Hall (D-OH). The event was a follow-up to yesterday's release of two Executive Orders that created a White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives and similar Centers within several cabinet level departments. Today's event expanded on yesterday's message and added new items. Expanding on yesterday's message, the White House again stressed the need to eliminate federal barriers to expand charitable choice. According to the White House, "Charitable Choice has moved many faith-based providers from the sidelines to the front lines, enabling many to collaborate with state and local governments to assist welfare families to gain their independence." But details still seem to be lacking. For example, the White House documents conclude: "This Administration will ensure that Federal agencies do not diminish or dismiss the contributions that can be made by faith-based and other community groups." How this will be done is still to be worked out. Today's event announced some other White House positions:

1. The White House supports the creation of state level Offices of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. Bush will support "making Federal matching funds available" for these purposes. 2. Support for the Non-Itemizer Charitable Deduction. Details on the legislation were not provided. In principle, charities strongly support this idea. 3. Limit Liability on Corporate In-Kind Donations. "The Administration seeks to limit the liability of corporations that in good faith donate equipment, facilities, vehicles, or aircraft to charitable organizations..." 4. Permit IRA Rollovers to Charity. "President Bush supports legislation that would permit individuals over the age of 59 to contribute IRA [Individual Retirement Accounts] funds to charities without having to pay income tax on their gifts." In principle, charities strongly support this idea. 5. Promote a State Charity Tax Credit. Details are not provided, but the Bush Administration would allow states to use TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families) funds to create state tax credits. Taxpayers could receive a credit against state taxes for contributions to charities that address "poverty and its impact." In the past, this was a narrow definition. For example, advocacy services were not permitted when determining whether the organization addressed poverty. In general, charities strongly oppose this idea, particularly for excluding advocacy and limiting it only to certain types of charities. However, there may be broader concerns about the idea of a credit even if these two concerns were addressed. 6. Raise the Cap on Corporate Charitable Deductions. Increase from 10% to 15% of the company's taxable income the amount that can be deducted as charitable contributions. 7. Create a Compassion Capital Fund. Federal funds to match private giving for: (a) technical assistance to small community and faith-based charities, and (b) start-up capital. The idea of providing federal funds to community based organizations for general operating support and technical assistance was considered very important to charities. It is unclear how much emphasis there will be for community based groups vs. faith-based groups.

By and large, details are still missing from the Bush proposals. It appears that Bush's plan is to lay out the ideas and leave it to Congress to develop the specific legislative language. This leaves the door open to much compromise and negotiation. This may be why the Lieberman press release was both optimistic and cautious at the same time. Lieberman said, "President Bush has issued a commendable call to conscience today.... We share President Bush's admiration for the many good works of faith-based organizations and his interest in spurring more of them... We should not be afraid to look at new ways to make use of this oldest of communal sources of strength." Then Lieberman warns: "But in doing so, we must be careful to respect the Constitution and the concerns of many citizens about the intermingling of church and state. We must also be careful not to use this effort to level the playing field for faith-based providers of social services as an excuse for discrimination against others... The devil, so to speak, may truly be in the details, which remain to be articulated."