Christian Nationalism and Government Funding of Religious Institutions
Christian Nationalism and Government Funding of Religious Institutions
Christian nationalism and government funding of religious institutions intersect in a broad range of contemporary disputes involving education, social services, public benefits, tax policy, government grants, and constitutional law. Debates concern not simply whether religious organizations can receive public support, but under what circumstances they may participate in government-funded programs, whether governments may exclude them because of their religious character or activities, and what conditions may accompany taxpayer funding.
The issue has become especially prominent in education. School vouchers, education savings accounts, tax-credit scholarships, religious charter schools, preschool programs, and other forms of school choice can make public resources available to families choosing religious education. Supporters generally describe equal access to these programs as a question of religious liberty and nondiscrimination. Critics emphasize concerns about public accountability, diversion of resources from public schools, discrimination by participating institutions, and government financing of religious instruction.
These disputes overlap with Christian nationalism when political movements advocating a stronger role for Christianity in American public life also support policies that make government resources available to Christian schools, ministries, and other religious institutions. The relationship is not always direct: government support for religious organizations long predates the contemporary Christian nationalist movement, and many programs apply equally to organizations representing different religions. Nevertheless, the expansion of public financing for private religious education has become an important part of the broader debate over religion's place in American government and public institutions.
Christian Nationalism, Education, and Public Funding
Education is one of the principal areas in which the source material connects Christian nationalism with government funding. Researchers and advocacy organizations have examined efforts to expand vouchers, education savings accounts, charter schools, tax-credit scholarships, and other mechanisms allowing public resources to support private education.
Religious schools are major participants in many private-school choice systems. Depending on the program, government support may reach them through vouchers issued to parents, education savings accounts controlled by families, scholarship organizations supported by tax credits, or direct appropriations and grants.
Christian nationalist educational activism has also been associated in some research with campaigns for greater parental control, opposition to particular public-school curricula, promotion of explicitly Christian educational alternatives, and support for policies allowing families to redirect government-supported educational resources toward religious schools.
The source material includes differing interpretations of these developments. Organizations favoring school choice argue that educational funding should follow students and that religious schools should participate on the same terms as secular private schools. Organizations concerned with church-state separation argue that extensive voucher and education-savings-account systems may result in substantial taxpayer support for religious instruction while reducing resources and accountability within public education.
The expansion of education savings accounts has broadened this debate. Programs in states including Arizona, Florida, Arkansas, Iowa, Utah, West Virginia, Alabama, Georgia, Texas, Tennessee, Wyoming, South Carolina, Missouri, and New Hampshire illustrate the increasing variety of mechanisms through which public or tax-supported resources can be used for private educational expenses.
Traditional voucher programs also remain significant. Programs in Indiana, Ohio, North Carolina, Wisconsin, and other states provide public support toward private-school tuition, including tuition at qualifying religious schools.
The Constitutional Transformation of Religious Funding
American constitutional doctrine concerning government funding of religion has changed substantially over time.
Earlier Supreme Court decisions often emphasized preventing taxpayer support from being used for religious instruction. Cases involving teacher salaries, instructional services, tuition assistance, construction funding, textbooks, transportation, and other benefits produced complicated distinctions between permissible assistance to students and impermissible government support for religious institutions.
Everson v. Board of Education in 1947 became an important starting point in modern church-state funding law. The Court upheld reimbursement for transportation used by students attending religious schools while simultaneously articulating a strong principle against government establishment of religion.
During the following decades, cases including Lemon v. Kurtzman, Committee for Public Education v. Nyquist, Meek v. Pittenger, Wolman v. Walter, and others placed significant restrictions on forms of direct government assistance connected to religious education.
Later decisions increasingly emphasized neutrality and private choice. In Mueller v. Allen and Witters v. Washington Department of Services for the Blind, the Court permitted benefits that could ultimately reach religious institutions when they were distributed according to neutral criteria and resulted from individual decisions.
Zelman v. Simmons-Harris in 2002 became especially important for school vouchers. The Court upheld Cleveland's voucher program, reasoning that aid reached religious schools through the independent choices of parents within a program that was neutral with respect to religion.
A second line of cases increasingly focused on the Free Exercise Clause and government discrimination against religious participants.
In Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia v. Comer in 2017, the Supreme Court held that Missouri could not exclude a church from an otherwise generally available playground-resurfacing grant simply because it was a religious institution.
In Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue in 2020, the Court held that when Montana created a private-school scholarship program, it could not disqualify schools solely because of their religious character.
In Carson v. Makin in 2022, the Court extended this principle to Maine's tuition-assistance program. Maine could not exclude otherwise eligible schools because they provided religious instruction.
Together, these decisions substantially strengthened the constitutional principle that religious organizations generally cannot be denied access to government benefit programs solely because they are religious.
Religious Status, Religious Use, and Remaining Limits
An important question concerns the distinction between the religious status of an organization and the religious use of government money.
Earlier decisions sometimes suggested that government could be required to treat religious and secular organizations equally while still restricting public funds from being used directly for religious instruction or worship. More recent litigation has increasingly questioned how far that distinction can be maintained.
Locke v. Davey remains an important example of a recognized limit. In 2004, the Supreme Court allowed Washington State to exclude devotional theology degrees from a generally available scholarship program. The Court recognized the state's historical interest in declining to finance the religious training of clergy.
The continuing significance of Locke is now part of broader disputes about whether governments may impose restrictions on religious uses of otherwise generally available public benefits.
The source material also describes a 2026 Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel interpretation arguing for broader Free Exercise protections against restrictions based on the anticipated religious use of generally available federal funds. That executive-branch legal interpretation illustrates the continuing development of the issue, but it is distinct from a controlling Supreme Court ruling.
Direct Funding and Indirect Aid
A recurring distinction in government funding policy is the difference between direct grants and indirect aid.
Direct funding occurs when the government awards money directly to an organization to provide a particular service. Federal rules have traditionally permitted faith-based organizations to compete for such funding while restricting the use of directly provided government money for explicitly religious activities such as worship, religious instruction, or proselytizing.
Indirect aid operates differently. Money or benefits are provided to individuals, who then choose among eligible providers. School vouchers are a prominent example. If parents independently choose a religious school within a religion-neutral program, the resulting transfer of government-supported funds has generally received greater constitutional protection.
This distinction is central to debates over vouchers, childcare assistance, educational benefits, and social-service programs.
Faith-Based Social Services and Federal Grants
Government financial relationships with religious institutions extend far beyond education.
Faith-based organizations have long provided publicly supported services involving poverty relief, employment assistance, housing, disaster recovery, substance-abuse treatment, family services, healthcare, veterans' programs, and other social programs.
Federal regulations generally provide that religious organizations may compete for many government grants and contracts without surrendering their religious identity. Rules administered by agencies including the Departments of Health and Human Services, Education, Agriculture, Justice, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Labor, and Veterans Affairs address participation by faith-based organizations.
These arrangements create several recurring questions:
- whether religious providers must be treated equally with secular providers;
- whether public funds may support explicitly religious activity;
- whether organizations must separate government-funded programs from worship or religious instruction;
- whether religious hiring practices can coexist with government grant requirements;
- whether beneficiaries must have access to services without being required to participate in religious activity; and
- how governments can oversee taxpayer funds without creating excessive interference in religious institutions.
These issues have persisted through multiple presidential administrations and represent a broader constitutional debate than Christian nationalism alone.
Houses of Worship, Disaster Aid, and Security Grants
Churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, and other houses of worship may also encounter government funding through disaster assistance and security programs.
Federal Emergency Management Agency programs can provide disaster assistance to qualifying houses of worship. Government security-grant programs likewise provide funding to nonprofit organizations, including religious institutions considered vulnerable to terrorism or other violence.
These programs illustrate the changing constitutional approach toward religious participation in generally available public-benefit systems. Excluding an organization merely because it is religious may raise Free Exercise concerns, while the government may still establish conditions governing the purposes for which public funds can be used.
Historic-preservation grants raise similar questions. Litigation involving grants for historically significant churches has tested whether houses of worship may be excluded from preservation programs that are otherwise open to private historic properties.
Religious Charter Schools
Religious charter schools represent one of the most significant unresolved boundaries between public education and religious liberty.
The controversy surrounding St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School in Oklahoma brought the issue to national attention. Oklahoma officials approved the proposed Catholic virtual charter school in 2023, which would have made it a publicly funded school operated as an explicitly religious institution.
The Oklahoma Supreme Court blocked the arrangement in 2024. The dispute subsequently reached the U.S. Supreme Court.
In 2025, the Supreme Court divided 4–4 in the case after Justice Amy Coney Barrett did not participate. The tie left the Oklahoma Supreme Court judgment in place but created no national Supreme Court precedent resolving whether states must permit religious organizations to operate publicly funded charter schools.
The dispute exposed a major unresolved constitutional question. Supporters of religious charter schools argue that if states allow private organizations to operate charter schools, excluding religious organizations can constitute unconstitutional religious discrimination. Opponents argue that charter schools are themselves public schools or governmental actors and therefore cannot provide state-sponsored religious instruction.
Additional disputes concerning religious charter schools indicate that this constitutional question remains active.
Publicly Funded Preschool and Other Emerging Disputes
The source material identifies several newer areas in which similar constitutional questions are developing.
One involves publicly funded preschool. Litigation involving Catholic preschool providers in Colorado concerns whether religious schools participating in a universal preschool program may maintain religious admissions or educational policies that conflict with government nondiscrimination conditions.
Other disputes involve state scholarship restrictions for students studying theology, government grants to religious ministries with faith-based employment requirements, historic-preservation assistance for active houses of worship, and government contracting with religious organizations.
Together, these cases demonstrate that the central debate has moved beyond the older question of whether government may provide certain benefits to religious organizations. Increasingly, courts are being asked when the Free Exercise Clause means that government must include religious organizations in programs available to comparable secular institutions.
Tax Credits and Other Indirect Subsidies
Government support can also occur through the tax system.
Tax-credit scholarship programs allow individuals or corporations to receive tax benefits for contributions to organizations that finance private-school scholarships. Refundable education tax credits, education savings accounts, deductions, and tax-preferred savings plans may also indirectly support attendance at religious schools.
Supporters often distinguish these programs from direct appropriations because families or private donors decide where educational resources ultimately go.
Critics argue that tax expenditures still represent government-supported financial assistance and can produce substantial public subsidies for private religious education.
These disagreements illustrate why the definition of "government funding" itself is sometimes contested.
Public Accountability and Conditions on Funding
Receiving public money can create questions about government regulation.
Religious organizations may wish to participate in publicly funded programs while retaining control over doctrine, hiring, admissions, curriculum, and internal governance. Governments, meanwhile, may impose requirements concerning financial accountability, nondiscrimination, educational standards, program eligibility, safety, or the permissible uses of public money.
This creates a recurring tension. If regulation is extensive, religious institutions may argue that participation requires surrendering protected religious practices. If regulation is minimal, critics may argue that taxpayers are financing organizations without the transparency and protections expected of other publicly funded institutions.
The issue therefore involves not only whether religious institutions receive government support, but also what obligations accompany that support.
Christian Nationalism and the Broader Political Debate
Christian nationalism adds a political and ideological dimension to these legal questions.
Researchers generally use the term to describe views connecting American national identity and government with Christianity. The exact meaning and boundaries of the concept vary among scholars, religious groups, political organizations, and members of the public.
Some contemporary Christian nationalist or Christian conservative movements support expanding school choice, public accommodation of religion, religious exemptions, and participation by religious organizations in government-funded programs. Critics contend that some of these efforts seek to use public resources to strengthen specifically Christian institutions or weaken traditional church-state barriers.
At the same time, public funding of religious institutions cannot automatically be characterized as Christian nationalism. Many constitutional protections and government programs apply equally to Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Christian, and other religious organizations. Faith-based social-service partnerships also have a long history that crosses political and denominational lines.
The more precise question is therefore how Christian nationalist ideas interact with a much broader legal transformation concerning religious equality, public benefits, government neutrality, and the meaning of church-state separation.
Competing Principles
The debate over government funding of religious institutions increasingly revolves around several constitutional and policy principles that can point in different directions.
One principle holds that government should not establish, promote, or finance religion.
Another holds that government should not discriminate against individuals or organizations merely because they are religious.
A third emphasizes private choice: public assistance that reaches a religious institution because an individual independently chooses that institution is often treated differently from money appropriated directly to support religious activity.
A fourth concerns accountability. Public funding ordinarily brings government rules concerning eligibility, financial management, discrimination, educational standards, and program performance.
The difficulty lies in determining how these principles apply when religious organizations participate extensively in publicly financed systems.
Conclusion
Government funding of religious institutions has shifted from an area dominated by restrictions on public support for religion toward a constitutional framework increasingly emphasizing neutrality, private choice, and equal treatment of religious organizations.
Supreme Court decisions including Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, Trinity Lutheran Church v. Comer, Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, and Carson v. Makin have progressively limited the circumstances in which religious organizations can be excluded from generally available public-benefit programs. At the same time, Locke v. Davey, federal grant regulations, nondiscrimination requirements, and unresolved disputes involving religious charter schools demonstrate that constitutional limits have not disappeared.
The resulting debate extends across vouchers, education savings accounts, charter schools, preschool programs, social services, disaster assistance, security grants, preservation programs, higher education, government contracting, and tax policy.
Christian nationalism intersects with these developments particularly where advocates seek a larger role for Christian institutions in publicly supported education or government programs. Yet the underlying constitutional issues are broader than any single movement. They concern how the United States balances religious liberty, government neutrality, individual choice, church-state separation, and public accountability when taxpayer-supported benefits reach religious institutions.
The continuing litigation described in the source material suggests that the boundary between equal access to government programs and government support of religious activity remains an evolving area of American constitutional law and public policy.
Christian Nationalism, Education, and Public Funding
| Tom Joscelyn | Civil Defense | September 17, 2026
How the Heritage Foundation Promotes Christian Nationalist Schooling. Investigates connections among conservative education organizations, classical Christian schools, school-choice advocacy, and policies directing public money toward private education.
| David E. Johnson | Skeptic | August 12, 2026
Texas Education and Christian Nationalism. Discusses Texas education savings programs and the relationship between Christian nationalism and public funding for private religious education.
| Ibrahim Enes Atac, Lena Kunjan, Forrest Lovette & Samuel L. Perry | Socius | May 28, 2026
What Would Jesus Fund? Christian Nationalism and Americans’ Views on Government Spending. Uses General Social Survey data to investigate associations between Christian nationalism and preferences concerning government spending and who should benefit from public resources.
| Chip Rotolo & Gregory A. Smith | Pew Research Center | May 14, 2026
How Americans Feel About Religion’s Influence in Government and Public Life. Provides national survey evidence about Christian nationalism, church-state separation, Christianity's role in government, and public attitudes toward religion in public institutions.
| Multiple Authors | Educational Studies | 2025
White Christian Nationalism and Contemporary Education: Implications for Theory, Policy, and Practice. Examines White Christian nationalism in education, including publicly funded private-school vouchers and changes in First Amendment jurisprudence.
| Isis | University of Chicago Press | 2025
Christianizing America, School District by School District. Discusses Christian nationalist educational activism, including efforts to use voucher and charter-school programs to channel taxpayer funds into private Christian schools.
| National Education Association | 2025
The Price We Pay for Vouchers. Explains voucher forms including education savings accounts and tax credits and presents NEA's arguments concerning public accountability and diversion of education funds.
| Brookings Institution | 2025
3 Waves of School Vouchers: A History of Expansion and Exclusion. Traces voucher development through Zelman, Espinoza, and Carson and describes the spread of universal private-school funding programs.
| Brock Lewis | Discover Education | May 7, 2025
A Neglected Crisis: Understanding Christian Nationalism’s Effects on American Education. Examines Christian nationalism in private Christian schools and its broader influence on public-school policy and educational politics.
| Kevin J. Burke & Heidi Hadley | National Education Policy Center | November 4, 2025
Christian Nationalism and Educational Policy in the United States. Examines Christian nationalism's influence on education policy, including advocacy for vouchers, education savings accounts, charter expansion, and directing public funds toward religious schools.
| Education Week | August 2024
Religion in Public Schools, Explained. Provides an overview of current law involving religious schools, vouchers, tax-credit scholarships, and religious charter schools.
| Douglas N. Harris | Brookings Institution | 2024
The New and Radical School Voucher Push Is Quietly Unwinding Two Centuries of U.S. Education Tradition. Examines universal voucher expansion and concerns involving religious schools, nondiscrimination, government accountability, and church-state separation.
| National Education Association | 2024
What Do Book Bans and Vouchers Have in Common? Connects contemporary curriculum conflicts with voucher policies and notes the substantial role religious schools play in private-school choice programs.
| Chip Rotolo, Gregory A. Smith & Jonathan Evans | Pew Research Center | March 15, 2024
Christianity’s Place in Politics, and “Christian Nationalism.” Surveys attitudes toward Christian nationalism, government promotion of Christian values, biblical influence on law, and church-state separation.
| Joshua Cowen | Brookings Institution | September 1, 2022
“Apples to Outcomes?” Revisiting the Achievement v. Attainment Differences in School Voucher Studies. Reviews voucher research and places the expansion of publicly financed private education in the post-Carson legal environment.
| Americans United | 2021–present
Public Funds Should Go to Public Schools. Gives the organization's case against public funding of private religious schools and places modern voucher advocacy within a broader political and historical context.
Why Federal School Vouchers Are a Bad Idea. Offers a libertarian concern that government financing can eventually produce government control over religious and independent schools.
Denial and Discrimination: How Christian Nationalism’s Ideology Harms Families and Undermines Public Education. Presents Americans United's argument connecting Christian nationalism, vouchers, private religious schools, and changes in public-school funding.
Indiana Choice Scholarship Program. Describes one of the country's major voucher programs and summarizes litigation over state constitutional restrictions on aid to religious institutions.
| Cato Institute | Education Wiki | No date
The Way Forward: Scholarship Tax Credits or Vouchers? Presents a libertarian pro-school-choice perspective distinguishing vouchers from scholarship tax credits and reviewing their constitutional treatment.
Supreme Court and Constitutional Development
| U.S. Supreme Court | June 21, 2022
Carson v. Makin. Held that Maine could not exclude religious schools from a generally available tuition-assistance program for students in districts without public secondary schools.
Carson v. Makin. Collects the case record and coverage of the Supreme Court's decision requiring religious schools to be eligible for Maine's tuition-assistance system.
| First Amendment Encyclopedia | June 21, 2022
Carson v. Makin. Explains how Carson built upon Trinity Lutheran and Espinoza and further narrowed the distinction between religious status and religious use.
| First Amendment Center | 2022
State Funds for Students at Religious Schools? Supreme Court Says Yes in Maine Case. Discusses the broader implications of Carson for other publicly financed educational programs.
| U.S. Department of Justice | 2021
Carson v. Makin Amicus Brief. Presents the federal government's constitutional argument concerning Maine's exclusion of sectarian schools from tuition assistance.
Espinoza, Funding of Religious Service Providers, and Religious Freedom. Examines how Espinoza might affect government funding of religious service providers beyond schools.
A Takedown of the Blaine Amendments. Presents the argument that state constitutional no-aid provisions improperly discriminate against religious institutions.
What’s “the Use” of the Constitution’s Distinctive Treatment of Religion If It Is Disregarded as Discrimination? Explores the distinction between discrimination based on religious status and restrictions on religious uses of public money.
| U.S. Supreme Court | June 30, 2020
Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue. Held that Montana could not exclude religious schools from a private-school scholarship program solely because of their religious status.
| Amy Howe | SCOTUSblog | June 30, 2020
Opinion Analysis: Court Rules That Religious Schools Cannot Be Excluded from State Funding for Private Schools. Summarizes the Espinoza ruling and its consequences for state restrictions on financing religious education.
RIP State “Blaine Amendments”? Espinoza and the “No-Aid” Principle. Presents a contrasting analysis emphasizing state constitutional traditions restricting taxpayer support for religion.
| National Constitution Center | 2020
Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue. Provides a summary of majority and dissenting arguments concerning public funding, religious discrimination, and state no-aid provisions.
Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue. Case file containing briefs, arguments, orders, and the Court's decision concerning Montana's scholarship program.
| Amy Howe | SCOTUSblog | January 2020
Argument Analysis: Justices Divided in Montana School-Choice Case. Reports the competing Free Exercise and Establishment Clause arguments presented during Espinoza.
Espinoza v. Montana: The Battle Between “May Fund” and “Must Fund.” Frames the constitutional dispute around whether states merely may finance religious schools or can sometimes be required to include them.
The Deference Due State Constitutional Protections for Public Education. Defends state constitutional provisions restricting aid to religious schools and emphasizes preservation of public-education funding.
Stripping Church-State Separation to the Bone? Argues against converting constitutional permission to fund religious education into a constitutional requirement to do so.
| John R. Vile | First Amendment Encyclopedia | July 2, 2024
Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer (2017). Explains the Court's shift toward requiring equal access for religious institutions to generally available government-benefit programs.
| Lyle Denniston | National Constitution Center | June 27, 2017
New Funding Hopes for Parochial Schools. Examines the immediate consequences of Trinity Lutheran for state constitutional restrictions on government aid to religious organizations.
| U.S. Supreme Court | June 26, 2017
Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer. Held that Missouri could not exclude a church from an otherwise available playground-resurfacing grant solely because of its religious character.
| U.S. Supreme Court | February 25, 2004
Locke v. Davey. Upheld Washington's decision not to finance devotional theology degrees, establishing an important remaining limit on compulsory government funding of religious activity.
| U.S. Department of Justice | September 2003
Locke v. Davey — Amicus Brief. Presents the federal government's argument concerning exclusion of theology students from generally available scholarships.
| U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops | 2003
Locke v. Davey. Presents a religious-liberty argument against excluding theology students from generally available state scholarships.
| U.S. Supreme Court | June 27, 2002
Zelman v. Simmons-Harris. Upheld Cleveland's voucher program because aid reached religious schools through the independent choices of parents under a religion-neutral program.
| Pew Research Center | June 28, 2002
Judgment Day for School Vouchers. Presents competing perspectives on the constitutional significance of Zelman and its implications for state restrictions on religious-school funding.
| Pew Research Center | November 28, 2001
Judgment Day for School Vouchers: Constitutionality of the Cleveland School Voucher Plan. Records arguments from both sides concerning private choice, tax support, and religious-school participation.
| U.S. Supreme Court | June 28, 2000
Mitchell v. Helms. Considered federal provision of educational materials and equipment to private schools, many of them religious, under neutral allocation criteria.
| U.S. Department of Justice | 1999
Mitchell v. Helms — Merits Brief. Reviews earlier Supreme Court cases permitting government aid to secular educational activities of religious institutions.
| U.S. Supreme Court | June 23, 1997
Agostini v. Felton. Reconsidered earlier restrictions and permitted publicly funded remedial education services to be provided inside religious schools.
| U.S. Supreme Court | January 27, 1986
Witters v. Washington Department of Services for the Blind. Allowed vocational rehabilitation assistance to be used by an individual studying for the ministry because aid reached the religious institution through private choice.
| U.S. Supreme Court | June 29, 1983
Mueller v. Allen. Upheld a Minnesota tax deduction for educational expenses partly because it was available neutrally and benefits flowed through parental choices.
| U.S. Supreme Court | June 24, 1977
Wolman v. Walter. Distinguished among permissible and impermissible forms of state assistance to students attending nonpublic religious schools.
| U.S. Supreme Court | June 21, 1976
Roemer v. Board of Public Works of Maryland. Upheld Maryland grants to qualifying private colleges, including religiously affiliated institutions, where public funds could not be used for sectarian purposes.
| U.S. Supreme Court | May 19, 1975
Meek v. Pittenger. Addressed public provision of instructional materials and services to religious schools during the Court's stricter Establishment Clause era.
| U.S. Supreme Court | June 25, 1973
Hunt v. McNair. Upheld a financing arrangement involving a religiously affiliated college while restricting public support for facilities used primarily for worship or religious instruction.
| U.S. Supreme Court | June 25, 1973
Committee for Public Education v. Nyquist. Invalidated New York financial assistance for parents and private schools when the Court concluded the program impermissibly supported sectarian education.
| U.S. Supreme Court | June 28, 1971
Tilton v. Richardson. Addressed federal construction grants to church-related colleges and helped establish distinctions between aid to higher education and aid to religious elementary and secondary schools.
| U.S. Supreme Court | June 28, 1971
Lemon v. Kurtzman. Concerned state reimbursement of salaries and instructional expenses in religious schools and produced the former three-part Lemon test.
| U.S. Supreme Court | February 10, 1947
Everson v. Board of Education. The foundational modern Establishment Clause funding case upheld reimbursement for transportation to religious schools while articulating limits on government support of religion.
Government Grants and Faith-Based Social Services
| U.S. Department of Education | November 14, 2025
Guidance for Faith-Based and Other Neighborhood Organizations Grantees. Explains how religious organizations can retain their identities while participating in federal Education Department grant programs.
Engaging Faith-Based and Community Organizations. Lists federal programs through which religious nonprofits and houses of worship may receive disaster, mitigation, and community-service funding.
| Electronic Code of Federal Regulations | 2024
Notice or Announcement of Award Opportunities — 45 CFR Part 87 Appendix B. States that faith-based organizations may compete for HHS awards on the same basis as other organizations while describing restrictions on explicitly religious activities.
| Federal Emergency Management Agency | February 19, 2024
FEMA Assistance for Houses of Worship. Explains when churches and other houses of worship may receive federal disaster assistance to repair or replace damaged facilities.
| First Amendment Encyclopedia | March 31, 2025
Faith-Based Organizations and Government. Surveys the history and constitutional issues surrounding government partnerships with churches and religious charities.
| Pew Research Center | May 14, 2009
Shifting Boundaries: The Establishment Clause and Government Funding of Religious Schools and Other Faith-Based Organizations. Provides a history of public funding of religion, religious schools, faith-based social services, and Supreme Court doctrine.
| Pew Research Center | May 14, 2009
Public Funding for Religious Schools. Focuses on the evolution of constitutional rules governing taxpayer support for religious education.
| Fredrica D. Kramer et al. | Urban Institute | July 28, 2005
Federal Policy on the Ground: Faith-Based Organizations Delivering Local Services. Studies government contracting with faith-based organizations under welfare, substance-abuse, Community Services Block Grant, and related programs.
| Pew Research Center | March 28, 2003
Separation of Church and States: State Constitutional Limits on Government Funding for Religious Institutions. Explores state no-aid provisions and conflicts between state constitutions and federal Free Exercise doctrine.
| Laura S. Underkuffler | First Amendment Law Review | 2003
The “Blaine” Debate: Must States Fund Religious Schools? Argues against interpreting the federal Constitution to require state financing of religious schools and institutions.
| Fredrica D. Kramer et al. | Urban Institute | February 1, 2002
Faith-Based Organizations Providing Employment and Training Services. Documents government contracts and public funding received by faith-based employment and social-service organizations.
| Carol J. De Vita & Sarah Wilson | Urban Institute | July 2001
Faith-Based Initiatives: Sacred Deeds and Secular Dollars. Examines the legal and policy implications of direct government financial relationships with religious social-service organizations.
| Mark Chaves | Urban Institute | December 1, 1999
Congregations’ Social Service Activities. Studies congregational social services and the willingness of religious congregations to receive government grants or contracts.
| Martha Minow | Duke Law Journal | 1999
Choice or Commonality: Welfare and Schooling After the End of Welfare as We Knew It. Compares school vouchers with charitable-choice programs allowing public assistance to reach religious providers of welfare services.
| Carl H. Esbeck | Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly | 1992
Government Regulation of Religiously Based Social Services: The First Amendment Considerations. Analyzes constitutional questions created when government funding produces regulatory oversight of religious social-service providers.
| First Amendment Encyclopedia | Updated 2017+
Disaster Aid To and Through Religious Organizations. Reviews the constitutional dispute over FEMA assistance to churches and the influence of Trinity Lutheran on federal disaster policy.
| U.S. Department of Health and Human Services | No date
What Are the Rules on Funding Religious Activity with Federal Money? Explains rules distinguishing direct government grants from indirect assistance and restrictions on direct federal money used for explicitly religious activities.
| Electronic Code of Federal Regulations | No date
Faith-Based Organizations and Federal Financial Assistance — 45 CFR §87.3. Sets federal rules protecting religious organizations' eligibility for HHS funding while imposing conditions concerning federally supported services.
| Electronic Code of Federal Regulations | No date
Eligibility of Faith-Based Organizations for a Grant — 34 CFR §75.52. Requires equal eligibility for faith-based organizations while regulating how direct federal education money may be used.
| U.S. Department of Justice | No date
Faith-Based and Community Initiative: Frequently Asked Questions. Explains eligibility for federal grants and restrictions on using grant funds for prayer, worship, proselytizing, or devotional religious instruction.
Security Grants, Public Benefits, and Other Forms of Aid
| California Governor's Office of Emergency Services | June 25, 2026
2025–26 California State Nonprofit Security Grant Program. Provides state funds for security improvements to nonprofits at risk of violence, including qualifying houses of worship.
| Alabama Law Enforcement Agency | 2026
Nonprofit Security Grant Program. Describes federal security funding available to qualifying nonprofit organizations including churches, synagogues, and mosques.
| HHS Office of Population Affairs | 2026
Embryo Adoption Awareness and Services Grant Questions and Answers. A contemporary example of an HHS grant program in which faith-based organizations are expressly eligible for federal funding.
| U.S. Department of Health and Human Services | 2025
HHS Grants Policy Statement. Includes protections for faith-based organizations seeking federal financial assistance and describes applicable limitations.
| United States Code | No date
Community Services Block Grant — 42 U.S.C. §9920. Requires religious organizations to receive equal consideration as providers in federally funded community-services programs, subject to constitutional limits.
Religious Charter Schools and the Next Constitutional Frontier
Religious Charter School Blocked After Supreme Court Deadlock. Reports the Supreme Court's 4–4 disposition, which left the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling against St. Isidore intact without establishing a nationwide precedent.
| Gaya Gupta | The Washington Post | May 1, 2025
America’s First Taxpayer-Funded Religious School Would Teach Math — and Mass. Examines the proposed St. Isidore curriculum and why its explicitly Catholic character intensified the dispute over direct public financing.
| Justin Jouvenal, Ann E. Marimow & Laura Meckler | The Washington Post | April 30, 2025
Supreme Court Majority Seems Open to Religious Public Charter Schools. Reports arguments before the Supreme Court concerning whether religious organizations must be allowed to operate taxpayer-funded charter schools.
| Nina Totenberg | NPR | April 30, 2025
Supreme Court Seems Open to Religious Charter Schools. Covers oral argument and the constitutional distinction between indirect voucher aid and direct taxpayer financing of a religious public charter school.
| First Amendment Encyclopedia | 2025
Drummond v. Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board. Reviews opposing arguments over whether a religious charter school is a government actor or a private organization entitled to equal treatment.
| Oklahoma Supreme Court | June 25, 2024
Drummond v. Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board. The Oklahoma Supreme Court rejected the proposed St. Isidore Catholic virtual charter school; dissenting opinions argued that excluding religious organizations from charter contracting violated Free Exercise principles.
Oklahoma’s Top Court Rejects Establishment of First Publicly Funded Catholic School. Reports on the Oklahoma Supreme Court's decision barring St. Isidore from becoming the country's first publicly funded religious charter school.
| PBS NewsHour | June 29, 2024
The Debate Over Public Funding for Religious Schools. Presents opposing perspectives on vouchers and religious schools following the Oklahoma Supreme Court's St. Isidore decision.
| The Washington Post | April 2, 2024
Oklahoma Supreme Court Weighs Nation’s First Religious Charter School. Explains the debate over whether government payment to a church-run charter school constitutes contracting with a private organization or state-sponsored religious education.
Ohio Offers a New Way to Use Public Money for Christian Schools. Examines Ohio's direct appropriations for construction and expansion of Christian schools, a potentially significant distinction from voucher programs in which parents direct the aid.
| Moriah Balingit | The Washington Post | October 9, 2023
Oklahoma Board Moves Forward with Nation’s First Religious Charter School. Covers approval of St. Isidore's charter contract and developing lawsuits challenging direct public support for the institution.
The Fight Over Public Funding for Religious Charter Schools. Explains the St. Isidore dispute and how recent Supreme Court cases expanded religious organizations' access to government-funded programs.
| John Yang, Adam Kemp & Claire Mufson | PBS NewsHour | August 13, 2023
The Legal Battle in Oklahoma Over Public Funding for a Religious Charter School. Places St. Isidore in the context of Supreme Court decisions lowering barriers to religious participation in publicly financed programs.
| Adam Kemp | PBS News | August 4, 2023
In Oklahoma, a New Test of Religion in Public Schools. Reports litigation over the proposed religious charter school and concerns about public funding, religious instruction, and nondiscrimination.
| Laura Meckler | The Washington Post | June 5, 2023
Oklahoma Approves Public Funding for Catholic Charter School. Reports the initial approval of St. Isidore and explains why it posed a new constitutional test of direct taxpayer financing of religious education.
Expanding Voucher and Education Savings Account Programs
2026 EdChoice Participation Rankings. Provides current participation figures for voucher, education savings account, tax-credit scholarship, and refundable-tax-credit programs across the United States, useful for measuring the scale of public support flowing to private education.
| Iowa Department of Education | Updated 2026
Students First Education Savings Accounts. Official state guidance explains that qualifying Iowa students receive public funding that may be applied toward tuition and fees at accredited nonpublic schools.
What Are School Vouchers? Provides an overview of voucher programs nationwide and the argument that public education dollars should follow students to schools selected by their families.
| EdChoice | Updated December 16, 2025
Arizona Empowerment Scholarship Accounts. Describes Arizona's universal ESA system, under which public education funds can be used for private-school tuition and numerous other educational services.
| EdChoice | Updated December 16, 2025
Florida Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options. Describes Florida's universal ESA program, which allows public education funding to be used for tuition at participating private schools.
| EdChoice | Updated December 16, 2025
Florida Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities. Reviews the state's publicly financed ESA program for students with disabilities, including private-school tuition eligibility.
| EdChoice | Updated December 16, 2025
Arkansas Children's Educational Freedom Account Program. Describes Arkansas's universal ESA program, which provides participants with a percentage of state education funding for private tuition and related expenses.
| EdChoice | Updated December 16, 2025
Iowa Students First Education Savings Account. Explains Iowa's universal program providing state education funds to students attending accredited nonpublic schools.
| EdChoice | Updated December 16, 2025
Utah Fits All Scholarship Program. Describes Utah's ESA program allowing families to use public appropriations for private-school tuition and other educational expenses.
| EdChoice | Updated December 16, 2025
West Virginia Hope Scholarship Program. Explains West Virginia's rapidly expanding ESA system and the state litigation that challenged the legislature's authority to finance private education.
| EdChoice | Updated December 16, 2025
Alabama CHOOSE Act. Describes Alabama's education savings account system, which is scheduled to become broadly available and permits spending on private-school tuition.
| EdChoice | Updated December 16, 2025
Georgia Promise Scholarship Act. Describes Georgia's publicly appropriated ESA program for qualifying students attending designated schools.
| EdChoice | Updated December 16, 2025
Texas Education Savings Account Program. Describes the $1 billion Texas ESA program enacted in 2025 and scheduled to begin operating in 2026.
| EdChoice | Updated December 16, 2025
Tennessee Education Freedom Scholarship Act. Reviews Tennessee's new ESA system, including public appropriations that can be used for participating private schools.
| EdChoice | Updated December 16, 2025
Steamboat Legacy Scholarship Act. Describes Wyoming's expanded education savings account program and litigation challenging its constitutionality.
| EdChoice | Updated December 16, 2025
South Carolina Education Scholarship Trust Fund Program. Reviews South Carolina's ESA program and a state supreme court ruling restricting use of the funds for private-school tuition.
| EdChoice | Updated December 16, 2025
New Hampshire Education Freedom Account. Describes New Hampshire's increasingly broad ESA program and litigation over the use of education funds for private educational choices.
| EdChoice | Updated December 16, 2025
Missouri Empowerment Scholarship Accounts Program. Describes a tax-credit-financed ESA system through which private donations generate state tax credits and scholarships for private educational expenses.
2025 EdChoice Spending Share Rankings. Compares state spending on private-school choice programs with public K–12 expenditures, including billions of dollars flowing through programs that permit participation by religious schools.
Fast Facts on School Choice. Summarizes national enrollment and program statistics for vouchers, education savings accounts, tax-credit scholarships, and other publicly supported private-school choice mechanisms.
| Ed Tarnowski | EdChoice | June 25, 2024
State of Choice: 2024 Legislative Session in Review. Reports that education savings accounts dominated state school-choice legislation and reviews newly enacted or expanded programs across numerous states.
Traditional Voucher Programs
| Freedom From Religion Foundation | January 29, 2026
No Choice About It: Vouchers Hurt Public Schools and Fund Religion. Argues that modern voucher and ESA programs increasingly transfer taxpayer funds to private religious institutions.
| EdChoice | Updated December 16, 2025
North Carolina Opportunity Scholarships. Describes the state's universal-eligibility voucher system, which provides taxpayer-supported scholarships for tuition at participating private schools.
| EdChoice | Updated December 16, 2025
Ohio Educational Choice Expansion Scholarship Program. Reviews Ohio's universal voucher program and ongoing litigation alleging that public money is being diverted to private and sectarian institutions.
| EdChoice | Updated December 16, 2025
Milwaukee Parental Choice Program. Reviews the nation's oldest modern voucher program and litigation establishing that religious schools may participate.
| EdChoice | Updated December 16, 2025
Wisconsin Parental Choice Program. Describes the statewide voucher program and constitutional challenges concerning public financing of private education.
Wisconsin Special Needs Scholarship Program. Reviews taxpayer-funded scholarships for private-school attendance and related litigation over state educational funding requirements.
| Freedom From Religion Foundation | November 7, 2024
FFRF TV Show Guest Warns About Religious School Voucher Programs. Discusses research by Joshua Cowen concerning voucher expansion, religious-school participation, segregation, and education policy.
| American Civil Liberties Union | Current
School Vouchers. Presents the ACLU's opposing view that voucher programs can direct substantial taxpayer funding to religious instruction and weaken church-state separation.
Tax Credits and Indirect Funding
Tax-Credit Education Savings Accounts. Explains programs in which donors receive tax credits for financing accounts that families can use for private educational expenses.
| Arizona AZ529 | Updated 2026
Arizona 529 Frequently Asked Questions. Explains federal tax rules allowing qualifying 529 withdrawals for expenses associated with public, private, and religious K–12 education.
All School Choice Programs. Database covering vouchers, tax-credit scholarships, ESAs, refundable tax credits, and deductions across the United States.
| EdChoice | Updated December 16, 2025
Oklahoma Parental Choice Tax Credit Act. Describes refundable tax credits of thousands of dollars per child for families paying private-school tuition.
| EdChoice | Updated December 16, 2025
Pennsylvania Educational Improvement Tax Credit. Describes a large tax-credit scholarship program through which corporations receive state tax credits for contributions to scholarship organizations.
Contemporary Policy and Political Debate
| Freedom From Religion Foundation | December 9, 2025
New Religious Charter School Attempts Threaten Public Education Nationwide. Reports continuing efforts in multiple states to create religious charter schools supported by public funds.
| Mark Movsesian | Reason / Volokh Conspiracy | July 8, 2025
Religion at the Supreme Court. Reviews the Supreme Court's 2024–25 religion cases, including the unresolved constitutional status of publicly financed religious charter schools.
| Alliance Defending Freedom | Updated July 2025
Oklahoma Parent Legislative Action Committee v. Statewide Virtual Charter School Board. Provides a religious-liberty legal perspective supporting the ability of religious organizations to participate in charter-school systems.
| Center for American Progress | May 22, 2025
Supreme Court Deadlock Leaves Ban on State Funding for Religious Charter School in Place. Presents CAP's interpretation of the 4–4 Supreme Court disposition in the St. Isidore litigation.
| Center for American Progress | May 6, 2025
Who Pays for Choice? The Threat Privatization Poses to Public Education. Discusses expansion of vouchers, ESAs, and tuition tax credits and presents arguments for increased accountability over publicly funded private schools.
| Center for American Progress | April 8, 2025
School Vouchers Need Accountability to Avoid Fraud and Abuse. Examines oversight concerns as billions of dollars move through rapidly expanding voucher programs.
| Center for American Progress | February 4, 2025
Microschools Raise Serious Concerns About Accountability. Examines how publicly financed school-choice programs increasingly support alternative private educational institutions.
| Center for American Progress | January 29, 2025
Statement on Federal School Choice Executive Order. Criticizes a 2025 executive action directing federal agencies to explore expanded use of federal funding for private and faith-based education.
| Bruno V. Manno | Reason | March 6, 2024
3 Unsettled Questions Regarding the Constitutionality of Public Funding of Religious Schools. Presents a school-choice perspective on Blaine amendments, religious charter schools, and remaining constitutional questions.
Higher Education and Religious Institutions
| Alliance Defending Freedom | Updated August 24, 2026
Virginia Denies Aid to Students for Some Religious Degrees but Not Others. Discusses litigation challenging Virginia restrictions on tuition grants for students pursuing theological or religious-training degrees.
| Alliance Defending Freedom | August 30, 2024
9th Circuit Thwarts Attempt to Stop Students from Using Financial Aid at Christian Colleges. Discusses Hunter v. U.S. Department of Education and federal financial assistance used by students at religious colleges.
| U.S. Supreme Court | February 25, 2004
Locke v. Davey. The Court held that Washington could exclude devotional theology degrees from a scholarship program, leaving some constitutional space for states to decline funding for clergy training.
| U.S. Supreme Court | June 29, 1995
Rosenberger v. Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia. Held that a university generally could not exclude a religious student publication from a neutral student-activity funding system.
| U.S. Supreme Court | June 18, 1993
Zobrest v. Catalina Foothills School District. Held that a publicly financed sign-language interpreter could assist a student attending a Catholic school because the service resulted from a neutral program and parental choice.
| U.S. Supreme Court | December 8, 1981
Widmar v. Vincent. Although principally involving access to university facilities, the ruling helped develop the principle that neutral public benefits cannot automatically exclude religious participants.
Government Aid and the Establishment Clause
| U.S. Supreme Court | June 29, 1988
Bowen v. Kendrick. Upheld federal adolescent-family-life grants that could include religious organizations while permitting challenges to specific grants used for religious purposes.
| U.S. Supreme Court | July 1, 1985
School District of Grand Rapids v. Ball. Invalidated programs providing publicly financed instruction in religious-school settings under the Establishment Clause doctrine then in effect.
| U.S. Supreme Court | July 1, 1985
Aguilar v. Felton. Held that government monitoring of publicly financed teachers working in religious schools created excessive church-state entanglement; the decision was later overturned by Agostini.
| U.S. Supreme Court | June 25, 1973
Sloan v. Lemon. Invalidated Pennsylvania tuition reimbursements benefiting parents of students attending private schools, most of which were religious.
| U.S. Supreme Court | June 25, 1973
Norwood v. Harrison. Held that government may not provide assistance to private schools practicing racial discrimination, illustrating that private choice does not eliminate every constitutional restriction on publicly supported institutions.
| U.S. Supreme Court | May 4, 1970
Walz v. Tax Commission of the City of New York. Upheld property-tax exemptions for religious institutions as part of a broader nonprofit exemption.
| U.S. Supreme Court | June 10, 1968
Board of Education v. Allen. Upheld government loans of secular textbooks to students attending private and religious schools.
| Congressional Research Service / Constitution Annotated | Current
Overview of Financial Assistance to Religion. Summarizes Supreme Court doctrine governing financial assistance to religious entities and the shift toward neutrality and private-choice principles.
Blaine Amendments and State Constitutional Restrictions
| Idaho Attorney General | 2025
Idaho Attorney General Annual Report — Blaine Amendment Analysis. Discusses how Espinoza and Carson may limit application of Idaho's state constitutional prohibition on aid to sectarian schools.
| Petitioners | U.S. Supreme Court | May 8, 2024
Hile v. Michigan — Petition-Stage Brief. Challenges Michigan's constitutional restrictions on aid to nonpublic schools and argues that their application conflicts with modern Free Exercise Clause precedent.
| Pew Research Center | July 24, 2008
The Blaine Game: Controversy Over the Blaine Amendments and Public Funding of Religion. Reviews the history and continuing political and constitutional controversy surrounding state restrictions on aid to religious institutions.
Faith-Based Social Services and Federal Grants
| Office of Justice Programs | 2026
General Conditions for OJP Awards in FY 2026. Details restrictions and protections applying when faith-based organizations receive Department of Justice funding.
| Electronic Code of Federal Regulations | Updated March 4, 2024
45 CFR §87.3 — Faith-Based Organizations and Federal Financial Assistance. Establishes equal eligibility for religious organizations participating in HHS-funded programs while regulating use of direct federal assistance.
| Electronic Code of Federal Regulations | March 4, 2024
28 CFR §38.4 — Policy. Provides that faith-based organizations are eligible for Justice Department programs on the same basis as secular organizations.
| Electronic Code of Federal Regulations | Updated March 4, 2024
34 CFR §75.52 — Eligibility of Faith-Based Organizations for a Grant. Requires equal treatment of faith-based applicants for Department of Education grants and distinguishes direct from indirect federal financial assistance.
| Electronic Code of Federal Regulations | Current
7 CFR §16.3 — Faith-Based Organizations and Federal Financial Assistance. Governs participation of religious organizations in USDA assistance programs and requires awards to be made without religious discrimination.
| Electronic Code of Federal Regulations | Current
28 CFR §38.5 — Responsibilities. Restricts use of direct Justice Department funding for explicitly religious activities while protecting the autonomy of participating faith-based organizations.
| Electronic Code of Federal Regulations | Current
34 CFR §76.52 — Eligibility of Faith-Based Organizations for a Subgrant. Applies similar nondiscrimination and religious-activity rules to state-administered federal education programs.
| U.S. Department of Justice | Current archive
Faith-Based and Community Initiative Frequently Asked Questions. Explains that religious organizations compete for federal grants on the same basis as other nongovernmental organizations.
Homeland Security, Housing, Labor, and Veterans Programs
| U.S. Department of Labor | 2025
Guidance to Faith-Based Organizations on Partnering with the Federal Government. Explains the Department of Labor's current approach to grants, religious autonomy, and restrictions on explicitly religious uses of federal money.
| Electronic Code of Federal Regulations | March 4, 2024
6 CFR §19.3 — Equal Ability for Faith-Based Organizations to Seek and Receive DHS Financial Assistance. Requires equal eligibility for religious organizations in Homeland Security social-service programs.
| Electronic Code of Federal Regulations | March 4, 2024
6 CFR §19.4 — Explicitly Religious Activities. Restricts use of direct DHS financial assistance for worship, religious instruction, or proselytizing while permitting separately financed religious activities.
| Electronic Code of Federal Regulations | March 4, 2024
6 CFR Part 19 Appendix B — Notice of Award or Contract. Specifies religious-liberty protections and conditions applicable to faith-based recipients of Homeland Security funding.
| Electronic Code of Federal Regulations | March 4, 2024
29 CFR §2.32 — Equal Participation of Faith-Based Organizations. Protects eligibility and religious identity of organizations receiving Department of Labor support while regulating direct federal funding.
| Electronic Code of Federal Regulations | Current
24 CFR §5.109 — Equal Participation of Faith-Based Organizations in HUD Programs. Governs religious organizations receiving housing and community-development assistance.
| Electronic Code of Federal Regulations | Current
38 CFR §50.2 — Faith-Based Organizations and Federal Financial Assistance. Establishes equal participation rules for faith-based organizations receiving Veterans Affairs assistance.
| Electronic Code of Federal Regulations | Current
38 CFR §61.64 — Faith-Based Organizations. Regulates federal assistance to organizations providing services to veterans while distinguishing explicitly religious activities from government-funded services.
Religious Organizations as Government Contractors
| Alliance Defending Freedom | Updated 2026
Youth 71Five Ministries v. Williams. Challenges Oregon's decision concerning public grant eligibility for a Christian youth ministry that maintains religious hiring requirements.
| Electronic Code of Federal Regulations | Current
2 CFR §3474.15 — Contracting with Faith-Based Organizations and Nondiscrimination. Provides that religious organizations may contract with Department of Education grantees and subgrantees on the same basis as secular organizations.
Disaster and Security Funding for Houses of Worship
| California Governor's Office of Emergency Services | June 25, 2026
California State Nonprofit Security Grant Program. Describes state-funded security grants available to qualifying nonprofit organizations, including religious institutions.
| Alabama Law Enforcement Agency | Updated 2026
Nonprofit Security Grant Program. Explains federal security grants available to nonprofit institutions, including houses of worship considered at risk of terrorist or extremist violence.
| Federal Emergency Management Agency | 2025
Engaging Faith-Based and Community Organizations. Describes FEMA partnerships and federal funding opportunities involving houses of worship and religious nonprofits.
Comparative and Historical Context
| Pew Research Center | March 5, 2024
Globally, Government Restrictions on Religion Reached Peak Levels in 2021. Reports that governments in many countries provide funding for religious schools, religious buildings, or clergy, providing comparative context for American church-state debates.
| Pew Research Center | October 3, 2017
Many Countries Favor Specific Religions, Officially or Unofficially. Examines government financing of religious education and institutions around the world and distinguishes official, preferred, and neutral approaches to religion.
| Pew Research Center | March 31, 2011
Religion and the Courts: The Pillars of Church-State Law. Collects legal research on government funding, Free Exercise doctrine, public schools, religious displays, and other church-state controversies.
| Pew Research Center | May 14, 2009
Everson and the Wall of Separation. Examines the foundational Supreme Court decision allowing transportation benefits for religious-school students while articulating broad restrictions on government establishment of religion.
| Pew Research Center | May 14, 2009
Funding for Faith-Based Social Services. Reviews the expansion of government partnerships with religious organizations delivering welfare, substance-abuse treatment, employment assistance, and other social services.
| Pew Research Center | May 14, 2009
Significant Supreme Court Rulings. Provides a chronological overview of Supreme Court decisions defining when public benefits may reach religious organizations.
| Pew Research Center | October 23, 2008
A Fluid Boundary: The Free Exercise Clause and the Legislative and Executive Branches. Examines accommodations, government religious services, and policies governing government interaction with religious organizations.
Broader Constitutional Framework
| U.S. Supreme Court | June 30, 2020
Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue. Establishes that states operating generally available private-school aid programs ordinarily may not exclude schools because of religious status.
| U.S. Supreme Court | June 27, 2002
Zelman v. Simmons-Harris. Explains the private-choice doctrine under which government-supported education funds may reach religious schools when families independently direct the aid.
| Institute for Justice | Current
Publicly Funded Scholarships. Presents the Institute for Justice's legal argument that religious schools cannot be excluded from otherwise neutral educational choice programs following Espinoza and Carson.
The Federal Scholarship Tax Credit
Federal and State School Choice Resources. Provides advocacy and program information concerning tax-credit scholarships, vouchers, and education savings accounts.
| Internal Revenue Service | 2026
Federal Tax Guidance. Relevant for understanding the federal tax treatment of deductions and credits associated with education and charitable giving.
Colorado Universal Preschool and Religious Providers
| Colorado Attorney General | 2026
Colorado Legal Resources. Provides state legal information relevant to litigation involving religious preschool providers and Colorado's universal preschool program.
Religious Charter Schools After St. Isidore
Supreme Court Resources. Official source for orders, briefs, and opinions involving the St. Isidore religious charter-school litigation.
Historic Preservation Grants to Churches
| National Park Service | Current
Historic Preservation Fund. Provides federal information about preservation grants and eligibility rules affecting historic properties, including religious buildings.
Tax Exemptions as Government Support
| Internal Revenue Service | Current
Churches and Religious Organizations. Explains federal tax rules and exemptions applicable to churches and religious organizations.
Catholic Charities and Religious Tax Exemptions
| Internal Revenue Service | Current
Charities and Nonprofits. Provides federal tax guidance relevant to religious charitable organizations.
Government Contracts and Foster Care
| U.S. Supreme Court | June 17, 2021
Fulton v. City of Philadelphia. Held that Philadelphia violated the Free Exercise Clause when it refused to contract with Catholic Social Services under the circumstances presented in the case.
Faith-Based Government Partnerships
Federal Executive Branch Resources. Provides information on contemporary federal initiatives involving faith-based organizations and government partnerships.
Charitable Choice
Federal Legislative Resources. Provides statutes and legislative history relevant to charitable-choice policies and faith-based social-service contracting.
Government Funding and Religious Hiring
| Equal Employment Opportunity Commission | Current
Religious Organization Exemption. Explains federal employment-law provisions permitting qualifying religious organizations to prefer members of their religion in some employment decisions.
Public Financing and Religious Colleges
| U.S. Department of Education | Current
Federal Student Aid. Provides information about federal financial aid that students may use at eligible colleges, including qualifying religious institutions.
Indirect Aid and Individual Choice
| Cornell Legal Information Institute | Current
Establishment Clause. Provides background on constitutional principles affecting indirect aid, private choice, and government support reaching religious institutions.
Limits on Public Funding of Religious Activity
| U.S. Department of Health and Human Services | Current
Rules on Funding Religious Activity with Federal Money. Explains restrictions on the use of direct federal grants for worship, proselytizing, and explicitly religious instruction.
Government Security and Disaster Grants
| Federal Emergency Management Agency | Current
Nonprofit Security Grant Program. Describes federal security assistance available to eligible nonprofit organizations, including houses of worship.
Broader Church-State Funding Analysis
| Constitution Annotated | Current
First Amendment. Provides Congressional Research Service analysis of Establishment Clause and Free Exercise Clause doctrine.
Emerging 2026 Funding Questions
Supreme Court Resources. Provides current docket information relevant to developing disputes over religious institutions and government funding.
Central Questions for Further Research
| Constitution Annotated | Current
Constitution Annotated. Provides authoritative congressional analysis of constitutional doctrine relevant to government aid, religious institutions, and church-state relations.
