In the wake of Hurricane Harvey’s destruction, Texans have pulled together and demonstrated loyalty and hard work, despite tragedy. Even FEMA has been swift to help.
Unfortunately, FEMA’s spirit to help doesn’t apply to every organization affected, particularly religious ones.
Like many homes and organizations, several churches have been flooded in Texas. However, several churches haven’t been able to get equal access to disaster relief grants that are available to other non-profit organizations via FEMA’s Public Assistance Grant program.
Many private non-profit organizations, such as museums and zoos, qualify for FEMA’s relief programs to help make basic structural repairs and begin rebuilding, perfect for disasters such as Hurricane Harvey. However, often churches, synagogues, and other houses of worship are denied access to grants. Becket, a law firm that defends religious liberty, has filed a lawsuit in a Houston federal court against FEMA on behalf of three houses of worship arguing that these churches have the same right to apply for disaster relief grants as other non-profit organizations.
Per last year’s Supreme Court ruling in Trinity Lutheran, it would appear that FEMA’s policy violates the Constitution. The ruling protected the right of religious organizations to participate in generally available programs on equal footing with secular organizations.
Diana Verm, counsel at Becket said in a press release, “After the costliest and most devastating natural disaster in U.S. history, the government should come to the aid of all, not leave important parts of the community underwater. Hurricane Harvey didn’t cherry-pick its victims; FEMA shouldn’t cherry-pick who it helps.”
Ironically, FEMA and local government agencies are currently using Hi-Way Tabernacle, one of the houses of worship in the dispute, to shelter evacuees, distribute meals, and provide medical care. Yet FEMA pretends Hi-Way is not eligible for their grants because it is a house of worship.
This is not the first time this has happened. FEMA has repeatedly denied disaster assistance funds to countless houses of worship in the wake of disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina. At the same time, FEMA gave aid to an octopus research center, a botanical garden, and community centers that provide sewing classes and stamp-collecting clubs — because nothing says First Amendment rights like collecting stamps.
FEMA has struggled to provide disaster relief as quickly and robustly as intended. Often private sector organizations do a better job — this was clear with Hurricane Katrina. In an ideal, small-government, free-market country, private organizations would best government aid any day to the point where it’s altogether unnecessary.
Until that day, FEMA grants are vital to assisting organizations in need when they cannot help themselves. If FEMA is going to offer a helping hand to some nonprofits, they need to do so for all. Anything different is unconstitutional.
Nicole Russell is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. She is a journalist in Washington, D.C., who previously worked in Republican politics in Minnesota. She was the 2010 recipient of the American Spectator’s Young Journalist Award.
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