Religious Charities in 10 States Get $1B
Friday April 1, 2005 12:31 AM
By NEDRA PICKLER
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Religious charities in 10 states and the District of
Columbia got about half of the $2 billion in taxpayer money available to
groups deemed `faith-based' by the White House in 2004, according to
figures the White House provided Thursday to The Associated Press.
About one-quarter of the money awarded under President Bush's initiative
went to international groups, while organizations in the other 40 states
and three U.S. territories shared the remaining funds.
Bush planned to announce the figures on Friday after visiting children who
have parents in prison and who participate in religious charities.
Since taking office in 2001, Bush has pushed to give religious groups
equal footing with nonsectarian groups in competing for federal contracts.
The president says religious organizations often do a better job of
serving the poor and meeting other social needs. Unable to win passage of
legislation to accomplish his goal, Bush has bypassed Congress and made
more taxpayer money available to such groups through executive orders and
regulations.
Civil libertarians fear the government will wind up paying for worship,
eroding the constitutional separation between church and state.
The White House does not distribute funds directly to religious charities
and there is no fund or amount set aside for those groups.
Instead, these groups compete with secular organizations that also are
bidding for grants from federal agencies.
The vast majority of the international grants came from the U.S. Agency
for International Development and went to charities working in Bangladesh,
Ethiopia, Haiti and other developing nations.
``It's a competitive process,'' said Jim Towey, who directs the initiative
for Bush.
According to the White House figures, about one-quarter of the grants to
religious groups went to New York, Illinois, California and the District
of Columbia; each received more than $100 million.
The other states with large totals were Maryland, Florida, Michigan,
Pennsylvania, Texas, Georgia and Ohio.
The two states at the bottom of the rankings - Rhode Island and Vermont -
each got less than $100,000, but they are two of the country's smallest
states. [more]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlates...905639,00.html
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