US

FEMA Actually Denied Disaster Relief Funds To Churches Destroyed By Harvey, Maria

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The Trump administration informed the Supreme Court Wednesday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will administer disaster relief funds to churches ravaged by 2017’s deadly hurricane season.

A coalition of churches led by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty challenged an agency policy forbidding FEMA from awarding recovery grants to religious groups. The case reached the Supreme Court in late December, though the newly announced policy shift will likely moot the case.

“We’re delighted that FEMA will start treating us like other charitable groups,” said Pastor Charles Stoker of Hi-Way Tabernacle, a Pentecostal congregation in Cleveland, Texas. “And we look forward to continuing to help our neighbors as they recover from Harvey.”

Much of Stoker’s church flooded during Hurricane Harvey in August 2017. The damage notwithstanding, the church served as an action point for relief efforts, sheltering dozens of displaced Texans while distributing over 8,000 meals. Government workers used church facilities to provide medical services and distribute clothing.

Stoker and several other churches sought government funds to finance repairs to dry wall, insulation, and electrical wiring, but their claims were denied, prompting a lawsuit in Sept. 2017. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to issue an injunction against FEMA in early December. The churches then appealed to the Supreme Court, asking the justices to bar the policy’s enforcement while the case proceeds.

The churches argued that the high court’s 2017 Trinity Luther v. Comer decision secured equal access to public assistance programs — like disaster relief — for religious groups, and forbids discrimination on the basis of sectarian status.

Solicitor General Noel Francisco, the federal government’s Supreme Court lawyer, sent a letter to the justices Wednesday, relaying that the agency had revised its policy and would grant applications filed by religious groups.

“In the government’s view, FEMA’s revision of its policy moots petitioners’ request for a temporary injunction,” the letter reads.

The policy revision was not unexpected. President Donald Trump expressed support for the churches in a September tweet.

Churches in Texas should be entitled to reimbursement from FEMA Relief Funds for helping victims of Hurricane Harvey (just like others).

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 9, 2017

Secular groups expressed sympathy with the churches, but warned that FEMA’s new policy violates a core principle of the Constitution — that taxpayer monies should not be used to construct houses of worship.

“One of the clearest commands of the Constitution is that the government may not build churches, synagogues, mosques or other houses of worship,” said Maggie Garrett, legislative director of Americans United for Church and State. “This principle protects taxpayers from being compelled to fund a religion with which they may disagree.”

Garrett also noted that FEMA’s former policy restricted financial assistance to non-profits that provide essential public services, and did not discriminate against religious groups specifically.

The Supreme Court could dismiss the case as early as Monday.

Read the SG’s letter:

Solicitor General Noel Francisco’s letter to the justices in the Harvest Family Church litigation. (Screenshot)

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