Many states ‘burden’ religious freedom of faith-based nonprofits, report finds

CNA Staff, Oct 25, 2024 / 11:00 am (CNA).

A legal education group centered on religious freedom released on Friday its 2024 “Faith and Freedom Index,” which found that many states “overburden and are even hostile” toward faith-based nonprofits in the U.S.

The Napa Legal Institute’s report found that some states, including Massachusetts, Michigan, and Washington, ranked low for religious freedom, while other states such as Alabama and Indiana had “robust protections” for faith-based nonprofits, according to a Napa Legal press release.

Napa Legal’s vice president and executive director, Mary Margaret Beecher, said the index “shows that states must actively engage in the battle for religious freedom and a flourishing civil society.”

“The work of faith-based nonprofits is especially crucial this election year, in which many Americans are uncertain about the future of our nation and are seeing escalating attacks on religious freedom and conscience rights across the country,” Beecher said.

The Faith and Freedom Index evaluates 14 types of state laws and scores states based on the rating of these laws.

Alabama and Indiana scored high thanks to their “straightforward corporate, tax, and fundraising regimes,” while Massachusetts, Michigan, and Washington scored low due to “complicated regulatory regimes” and “minimal protections” for faith-based nonprofits, according to the release.

States were evaluated based on regulatory freedom and religious freedom. In the overall ranking, which factors in both, more than half of the states earned 50% or less. Most states (38) received a mid-range score between 40% and 59%, but Michigan, Washington, Massachusetts, West Virginia, and Illinois ranked lowest, between 32% and 39%.

Eight states — Utah, New Hampshire, Iowa, Mississippi, Texas, Kansas, Indiana, and Alabama — scored higher on the scale, between 60% and 79%.

Alabama had the highest score in the religious freedom category (86%), while Indiana had the highest in the regulatory freedom category (81%).

“It’s encouraging to see states like Alabama and Texas staunchly protecting these crucial rights; however, these rights belong to Americans regardless of the state they inhabit,” Beecher said. “Now is the time for states that do not have robust protections of these rights to move towards doing so.”

Napa Legal Counsel Frank DeVito noted that the index “is a natural and important extension of Napa Legal’s work.”

“By analyzing the laws that affect faith-based nonprofits and publishing the results, Napa Legal can better educate nonprofits, lawyers, and state policymakers on the state laws that affect religious organizations,” he explained.

DeVito noted that this education “leads to better awareness and compliance for faith-based nonprofits, better legal training for the lawyers who serve those organizations, and the possibility of state lawmakers passing better laws to help faith-based nonprofits thrive.”

Napa Legal launched the index in 2023 to address religious freedom issues in the U.S. The group reported that there has been progress in several states since, with Iowa, Nebraska, and Utah launching state Religious Freedom Restoration Acts.