New York Times yesterday reported that Catholic and Orthodox Jewish groups are lobbying hard for changes in President Biden's proposed Build Back Better Act. They seek to have drafters remove language which would apply nondiscrimination provisions to religiously affiliated prekindergarten and child care facilities. The bill as now drafted treats facilities that would accept child care vouchers issued to families as direct recipients of federal funding:
[Present provisions] could bar federal funds from going to programs that refused to hire a gay employee, gave preference to applicants of their faith or failed to renovate their facilities to accommodate disabled students....
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Orthodox Union ... have made the case to members of Congress that they could not accept money to run preschool or child care programs unless the bill expressly exempts them from anti-discrimination laws, such as Title IX, which protects against discrimination by sex, and the Americans With Disabilities Act, which they argue could require costly upgrades to old buildings, including houses of worship.
