Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Equal Treatment of Faith-Based Organizations Act of 2020”.
Equal Treatment of Faith-Based Organizations Act of 2020
A BILL
To ensure equal treatment of faith-based organizations participating in programs of the Department of Health and Human Services, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Ensuring that any restrictions on the use of HHS-financial assistance apply equally to faith-based and non-faith-based organizations
The Secretary of Health and Human Services—
shall not (including by means of any grant document, agreement, covenant, memorandum of understanding, policy, or regulation)—
require faith-based organizations to provide an assurance or notice as a condition on receipt of financial assistance from the Department of Health and Human Services (in this Act referred to as “HHS-financial assistance”) if such assurance or notice is not required of a non-faith-based organization;
disqualify faith-based organizations from participating in any program or service of the Department of Health and Human Services because such organizations are motivated or influenced by religious faith to provide social services, or because of their religious affiliation or exercise; or
otherwise apply any requirement or restriction on the use of HHS-financial assistance to faith-based organizations unless such requirement or restriction is applied equally to non-faith-based organizations; and
shall prohibit each State or local government administering HHS-financial assistance from—
implementing a requirement or restriction described in paragraph (1)(A) or (1)(C); or
disqualifying a faith-based organization as described in paragraph (1)(B).
Sec. 3 Ensuring that organizations are not required to make certain referrals to alternative providers
The Secretary of Health and Human Services—
shall not (including by means of any grant document, agreement, covenant, memorandum of understanding, policy, or regulation) require any organization that provides services under a program supported by HHS-financial assistance to refer a beneficiary or prospective beneficiary of the program to an alternative provider if the beneficiary or prospective beneficiary objects to the religious character of the organization; and
shall prohibit each State or local government administering HHS-financial assistance from implementing a requirement described in paragraph (1).