(The Center Square) – Loss of tax-exempt status should not happen if faith leaders, churches or nonprofits speak for or against political candidates, says a North Carolina congressman.

And he’s filed a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives, matched by a companion in the U.S. Senate. Together, Rep. Rev. Mark Harris, R-N.C., and Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., are hopeful the provision President Donald Trump directed by executive order in his first term becomes law long term, overturning the 1954 Johnson Amendment.

That law, Harris says, has allowed the IRS to silence “America’s pastors, churches and nonprofits.”

“People of faith should not fear exercising their First Amendment rights at the risk of the IRS coming after them,” Harris said in a release. “For too long, the Johnson Amendment has silenced pastors, churches, and non-profits from engaging on moral and political issues of our day for fear of losing their tax-exempt status. This attempt to muzzle people of faith must end – the Constitution is clear: Americans’ right to free speech shall not be infringed.”

Trump signed his executive order in 2017. Its sunset came when he left office.

The Free Speech Fairness Act is also known as House Resolution 2501 and Senate Bill 1205.

Lankford, in a release, said, “The First Amendment protects Americans’ right to freedom of speech and religious freedom without the threat of interference from Congress. The Free Speech Fairness Act is needed to ensure these original free speech protections are upheld by removing a restriction on speech that has existed since 1954. Fundamental American values must extend to everyone, including pastors, social workers, or non-profit employees and volunteers. Everyone should have their constitutional rights to assembly, free speech, freedom of religion and free press protected.”

Widespread support is already in place. Included are Advancing American Freedom; Alliance Defending Freedom; America First Policy Institute; American Values; Americans for Tax Reform; Catholic Vote; Concerned Women for America LAC; Eagle Forum; Family Policy Alliance; Family Research Council; First Liberty Institute; Focus on the Family; Home School Legal Defense Association; James Dobson Family Institute; Liberty Counsel Action; and NC Family.

(The Center Square) – Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued San Antonio officials Friday, alleging the city’s use of taxpayer money to fund transportation for women in Texas to have abortions out of state is unconstitutional.  

“The City of San Antonio is blatantly defying Texas law by using taxpayer dollars to fund abortion tourism,” Paxton said. “Beyond being an egregious misuse of public funds, it’s an attack on the pro-life values of our state. I will not stand by while rogue cities use tax dollars to circumvent state law and take the innocent lives of unborn children.”

The lawsuit was filed in the District Court of Bexar County and names the city of San Antonio, its mayor and city manager as defendants. 

This is the second time the city has been sued for its abortion transportation activity; the first was filed by prolife groups last year. 

After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, returning the issue of abortion to the states, Texas’ abortion prohibition laws went into effect. Not only is abortion banned in Texas with some exceptions, but state law prohibits anyone from transporting or funding transportation services for abortions and allows civil suits to be filed against violators.

Undeterred by the threat of legal action, the San Antonio City Council passed a resolution in support of abortion in August 2022 and later received more than $20 million from publicly owned CPS Energy “to fund abortion travel,” The Center Square reported.

In 2023, the city council created the Reproductive Justice Fund (RJF) and a line item in its $3.96 billion 2024 budget to fund it. The city council also allocated $500,000 for the RJF to cover travel costs for residents to have abortions outside of Texas, referred to as “downstream services,” or what Paxton refers to as “abortion tourism.” 

Pro-abortion groups, Jane’s Due Process, AVOW, the Buckle Bunnies Fund, Sueños Sin Fronteras, and the Lilith Fund for Reproductive Equity all support the RJF.

Several prolife groups, including the San Antonio Family Association, sued to stop the city “from providing taxpayer money to any organization that pays for abortion travel or that procures elective abortions for Texas residents.” 

A district court ruled against them; they appealed to the Fourth Court of Appeals.

After being sued, city council members next requested another $100,000 for “downstream services.” 

Six months later, Paxton sued, arguing, “Under Texas law, cities have no authority to use public money to assist people in circumventing Texas’s pro-life protections.” 

The lawsuit states that city officials are “using taxpayer money” to “fund an illegal abortion procurement scheme,” appropriating $100,000 to its RJF “specifically to pay for pregnant women to travel for out-of-state abortions.”

The lawsuit asks the court to declare that city officials are violating the Texas Constitution’s gift clause through the scheme and requests the court to issue a temporary and permanent injunction prohibiting the city from spending any taxpayer money on it. It also asks the court to prohibit the city from allocating taxpayer money for abortion-related services in the future.  

The lawsuit is among several Paxton has filed in defense of the state laws banning abortion.

Last fall, he sued Austin officials for similar reasons, arguing that city officials appropriating funding for abortion travel violated the Texas Constitution’s gift clause and represented an ultra vires action, The Center Square reported.

More recently, he sued and secured an injunction against three Houston area abortion providers who illegally performed abortions and claimed to practice medicine and provide so-called medical services without a license, The Center Square reported.

(The Center Square) – An Illinois House bill would prevent public utilities from making campaign contributions to political candidates if it becomes law.

State Rep. Abdelnasser Rashid’s, D-Bridgeview, measure has the support of the Citizens Utility Board and its director of Governmental Affairs, Bryan McDaniel.

“This would make it so that utilities, water, gas, sewer, could not make any campaign contributions to a candidate for municipal or state office,” McDaniel told The Center Square.

The bill would also prevent donations to political action committees organized to support candidates. The measure has three co-sponsors.

“So this would be HB 1621. I can tell you that’d be wonderful if that bill could pass. We’ll see,” McDaniel said.

ComEd and other utilities have drawn the attention of federal authorities in recent corruption cases, including the trial and conviction of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.

On Feb. 12, a jury convicted Madigan on 10 counts of bribery, conspiracy, wire fraud and use of a facility to promote unlawful activity. Four of the 10 counts were related to ComEd.

Madigan is scheduled to be sentenced on June 13. U.S. government attorneys are also seeking $3.14 million from the former speaker in forfeiture at a bench trial. The amount includes payments to ComEd subcontractors who were Madigan’s political allies. Prosecutors say the payments were bribes.

In the related ComEd Four case, four people were convicted of corruption charges in 2023, and ComEd agreed to pay $200 million in fines as part of a deferred prosecution agreement.

Sentencing dates for the ComEd four defendants are scheduled in July and August.

Connie Mixon, professor of political science and director of the Urban Studies Program at Elmhurst University, said the corruption cases are frustrating to her as a political scientist and to people who care about good government.

“There are legislative things that could be done to curtail some of this corruption, and yet our General Assembly doesn’t seem interested or doesn’t feel any urgency in pushing through legislative reforms,” Mixon told The Center Square.

Rashid’s bill is currently in the Illinois House Rules Committee.