Covid relief goes to religious groups

This week, as we published recently released information about the Paycheck Protection Program, we couldn’t help but notice the large number of religious organizations among the recipients.

Forty percent of the 4,839 loans we tracked to Upstate nonprofits went to places of worship and other religious groups.

The organizations’ suitability to the program is often obvious, as places of worship regularly fill needs created by the pandemic. Churches and temples across Upstate offer emergency food and shelter, health outreach, counseling, and other human services.

Yet PPP is a federal program run by the Small Business Administration, and in a nation with a tradition of separating church and state, it’s unusual to see such widespread participation by faith groups.

At the national level, some megachurches received PPP sizeable loans through PPP. Joel Osteen’s megachurch in Houston, for example, received $4.4 million.

We’re not necessarily suggesting that this shouldn’t have occurred. (Although, in the case of Osteen, a multimillionaire pastor known for his high-flying lifestyle, the optics aren’t good.)

However, the program does present a persuasive argument for more transparency.

Religious organizations are not only exempt from taxation, they’re exempt from having to file 990 tax returns – the forms filed by other nonprofits.

In addition, the SBA was reluctant to reveal details about the $522 billion loan program. The recent release came about because of a lawsuit filed by the Washington Post and other news outlets.

More information will likely be revealed in months to come. We’d like to see both the loan applications and the requests for loan forgiveness.

We’re also hoping for changes in the tax law.

If churches receive federal funds, they should be required to file federal tax returns. The public, which funds programs such as PPP, should know how money is being spent.