“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” James 1:27
One of our legislative priorities is the expansion of the state special charitable tax credit—all with the goal of driving even more private donations to the eighteen pregnancy resource centers that serve women, families, and their babies here in Idaho.
That’s why we’re thrilled to announce that our “Investing in Mothers and Children Act” (House Bill 342)—drafted by Idaho Family Policy Center and sponsored by Rep. John Shirts (R-Weiser)—was introduced last week in the House Revenue and Taxation Committee. You can download and read our info sheet here.
In drafting this legislation, our policy team kept in mind James 1:27, which tells us that true religion is about caring for women and children while remaining unstained by the world.
House Bill 342 fulfills this biblical directive because it creates tax incentives for private individuals and corporations to financially support pregnancy resource centers—all without redistributing any government money.
As you know, government money always comes with strings attached. Simply put, when you take the government cheese, you have to step into the regulatory mousetrap. And even if those restrictions aren’t imposed right away, the door remains open for future state and federal mandates.
Our pregnancy resource centers recognize this threat—and for that reason, many of them don’t want to take government money. As Doug Hansen, chairman of the board for Lifeline Pregnancy Resource Center in Nampa, explained in the introductory hearing for House Bill 342 last week:
Lifeline is 100% donor funded. We receive no government money—and we don’t want to receive government money. In fact, we prefer this tax credit program over proposals for direct government grants to PRCs because there are no government strings attached.
With direct government subsidies, the legislature can attach strings to money at any time—forcing us to significantly change the way we operate, and perhaps even prohibiting us from operating as a Christian ministry. Because of this, we have reservations about taking government money, and we prefer to rely on the support of our community.
Heather Lawless, CEO and founder of Reliance Ministries—a pregnancy resource center in Lewiston—shares these concerns. As she explained to the House Revenue and Taxation Committee last week:
We pride ourselves in telling our donors that Reliance Ministries does not take government funding. . . Government funding often comes with strings attached, making it difficult—if not impossible—to provide the whole-person support that transforms lives. It can restrict discussions about faith, limit the depth of relationships we build with our clients, and prevent us from offering a full spectrum of care support.
The bottom line is that tax incentives for private donations are a far better solution than relying on government grants. By incentivizing private financial support for the lifesaving work of PRCs while also protecting their freedom from any government interference, we can care for vulnerable families AND remain unaffected by the world (James 1:27).
According to our economic modeling, we expect that House Bill 342 will generate an additional $2 million in new private donations annually to Idaho PRCs, enabling them to continue providing life-affirming care to women and families facing unplanned or crisis pregnancies.
We’re grateful that Rep. David Cannon (R-Blackfoot), chairman of the House Revenue and Taxation Committee, gave us the opportunity to introduce our “Investing in Mothers and Children Act” and bring in PRCs like Lifeline and Reliance to help spread the message of why this legislation is important.
As you may know, there has been a lot of talk about the Idaho Legislature proposing too many tax cuts this year—and now we don’t know whether there will be support for House Bill 342 this legislative session.
But we know our God can move mountains.
Will you please join us in praying that we get the support we need to successfully push House Bill 342 through the legislative process—either this year or next year?
With your prayers and partnership – and by God’s grace – we will continue building an Idaho where God is honored, where life is cherished, and where local communities rise to the challenge of supporting women and families in need.
