E-Newsletter for January 23, 2007

In this issue:

• In Congress and the Presidential Race, Parties Embrace Faith
• On Heels of Success, Marriage Supporters Lobby for More Welfare Dollars
• Court Upholds State’s Decision to Ban Faith-Based Provider from Program
• Digest of Federal Grants with Faith-Based and Community Organization Eligibility
• Digest of Current Faith-Based News Stories

An update from the Roundtable on Religion and Social Welfare Policy, an independent research project
of the Rockefeller Institute of Government. The public policy research arm of the State University of New York.

New! In Congress and the Presidential Race, Parties Embrace Faith

Two senators who are politically disparate yet both favorites of faith communities - Hillary Rodham
Clinton (D-NY) and Samuel Brownback (R-KS) - last weekend announced their intentions to become
President in 2008. The respective announcements came two days before President George W. Bush delivers
his sixth annual State of the Union address tonight (Jan. 23) to a Congress that has just completed a
whirlwind 100-hour agenda focused on social issues promoted and endorsed by some religious leaders.
Only weeks into 2007 and a new session of Congress, the influence of so-called “values voters,” religion
and moral issues have assumed a vibrant role in politics and government among both Democrats and Republicans.

Click here to read more by Roundtable Washington Correspondent Anne Farris.

New! On Heels of Success, Marriage Supporters Lobby for More Welfare Dollars

With a $750,000 annual allocation, Utah has become the latest state to set aside a portion of its federal
welfare dollars to promote marriage among low-income residents. The funds will come from Utah's $75
million block grant through the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, the federal cash
assistance program that replaced welfare a decade ago. That Utah has decided to set aside precisely 1
percent of those funds is no accident, but a response to a grassroots push by those in what some call “the
marriage movement” to spend more government dollars on efforts to bolster two-parent households. They
call it the “1 percent solution.”

Click here to read more by Roundtable Correspondent Claire Hughes.

New! Court Upholds State's Decision to Ban Faith-Based Provider from Program

A federal appeals court has upheld the state of Michigan's decision to stop placing abused, neglected and
delinquent children with a faith-based provider called Teen Ranch, after the state determined that the
religious organization coerced children to participate in religious activities. Teen Ranch had sued Michigan
to get reinstated as a state-approved provider. The program was supported by voucher-type financing,
which courts have upheld as constitutional, even when organizations that provide overtly religious
programming are among those that receive government funds. But for such programs to be legal, voucher
recipients must be able to exercise “true private choice” among religious and secular providers, according
to recent interpretations of the Constitution. Such choice was lacking in this arrangement, the 6th Circuit
Court of Appeals found, because the state - not parents or guardians - was making the placement choice.

Watch future newsletters for an analysis of the decision by Roundtable legal experts Ira C. Lupu and
Robert W. Tuttle.

Click here to read the judge's decision.

Weekly Digest of Federal Grants with Faith-Based and Community
Organization Eligibility

The grant opportunities this week for community and faith-based organizations are through programs
administered by the U.S. Departments of Education; Health and Human Services; Housing and Urban
Development; and the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Potential applicants should be aware that some grant programs require specific technical expertise, or
experience with particular foreign countries.

Click here for the grant digest, compiled by Roundtable Correspondent Allison Sarnoff
with Lisa Montiel.