Another round of COVID-19 relief from Congress is on life support but not dead, as centrist Democrats have begun to pressure Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi toward compromise. That would mean finding some middle ground between the $3 trillion House “HEROES Act,” with its bailout for profligate blue-state governments, and the Republican $500 billion “skinny” bill. If serious negotiations do ensue, there is one provision on which Senate Republicans should not budge: a strong new form of tax relief for individual charitable giving. It’s a provision both important in its own right — and revealing of a larger philosophical difference between the parties when it comes to charity.

The latest “skinny” Senate bill would specifically have expanded the so-called “above-the-line” tax deduction included in the original CARES Act, which authorized a $300 deduction even for those who do not itemize their tax returns. The Senate bill proposed to double that amount for 2020 taxpayers, to $600 for individuals and $1,200 for those filing a joint return. The House bill included no such provision, or even an extension of a less-generous version included in the first COVID-19 relief bill.