ew reports from Capitol Hill confirm that President Bush's faith-based initiative has stalled for now, with passage unlikely during this congressional session. Instead, supporters are promoting piecemeal steps which include encouraging religious groups to take advantage of existing federal revenue sources, and perhaps even passing a watered-down compromise bill that beefs up tax breaks for those donating to charities.

   The faith-based initiative has been a key component in Bush's political agenda, but has also generated criticism from the left and right. Religious conservatives fear that government funding of religion-based social service programs could lead to regulation and loss of autonomy for churches and other houses of worship which accept public subsidies. Liberals say that Mr. Bush's plan would permit sectarian groups to discriminate in hiring practices, and still accept government funds. Somewhat marginalized in this debate has been a growing chorus of civil libertarians and secularists, though, who charge that the faith-based initiative violates the constitutional separation of church and state, and imposes a "Religion Tax" on Americans, including millions of Atheists and Freethinkers who profess no religious beliefs.

   The debate has led to grid-lock on Capitol Hill. In July, the House of Representatives approved H.R. 7, the "Community Solutions Act" crafted by Oklahoma Republican J.C. Watts. The measure passed 233-198, with all but four members of the GOP supporting the legislation and 15 Democrats crossing the aisle as well. Watts' bill has run into trouble in the Senate, however. Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pennsylvania) and Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Connecticut) have both been working to design a workable compromise.

   ¶    That legislation would provide for special tax breaks and other incentives for those contributing to religious and other charities. It tries to avoid the more obvious constitutional problems by not giving direct grants to religious organizations, but would instead effectively "launder" the money through existing programs such as Community Development Block Grants and other mechanisms. The block grants are turned over to state and local governments, and then trickle down to social service groups, including churches, mosques, temples and other houses of worship.

   How much money is at stake? The Washington Post says that the price tag for the compromise legislation could run as high as $28 billion if the White House prevails. Democrats have not cited a specific figure. Administration spokesman Dan Gerstein says that Bush is "very optimistic that if we keep working together we're going to get this done by the end of the year."

   The $28 billion could be deceptively low, however. Bush has already signed Executive Orders creating his White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, and mandating that several major government departments establish "liaison" offices with religious groups and encourage them to apply for grants and other money in order to operate social services. The bill here could add on another $10 billion or more.

   ¶    In what Religion News Service described as "an unprecedented effort to jump-start its faith-based initiative," administration operatives have headed outside the beltway for the first round of an expected blitz to encourage religious groups to grab whatever funding is available now. Earlier this week, White House aides were in Dallas, where Housing and Urban Development Secretary Mel Martinez was cheered in his speech before the Christian Community Development Association. Representatives of federal departments including Health and Human Services, Justice, Education and labor also told their audiences of religious leaders that houses of worship should be more active in seeking taxpayer dollars.

   Brent Orrell of the Labor Department's faith-based liaison office gushed, "Since most faith-based agencies are not set up to receive the large federal grants, we are working to reduce the size of the grants, reduce the paperwork, provide assistance and pass the word to the other governmental agencies at the federal, state and local levels that faith-based agencies need to be included in the 'community base' of organizations considered for these grants."

   The cozy relationship between the religious community and Washington bureaucracy was exemplified by Cheryl W. Allpine. RNS noted that she was "wearing two hats" at the Dallas conference -- Director of the HUD faith-based office, and a member of the Christian Community Development Association National Board. She told the gathering that while the White House could not yet provide "new money," the presence of so many Washington officials was meant to send the message that there is "a goodwill effort toward eliminating the barriers and leveling the playing field for receiving existing grant money."

   Critics of the faith-based initiative have charged that the Bush administration and other supporters of the program use disingenuous, contradictory language and send a "mixed message" to religious groups about taking money to fund faith-based rituals and programs. This was the case in Dallas. Health and Human Services Special Assistant Cathy Deeds said that federal grant money is available to sectarian groups but, "you can't use the grants to build a church, require church attendance, or proselytize."

   Deeds did not elaborate, or outline how the government would monitor grant recipients for compliance.

   Cheryl Allpine of HUD then chimed in, assuring the assembled religious leaders, "You can compete with everyone for the funds without giving up who you are, what you do and how you do it. You don't have to change your name, or take the crosses down from your walls and the fish off your business cards."

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