The Honorable Tom Wolf and Senate President John Fetterman                            

Office of the Governor

508 Main Capitol Building

Harrisburg, PA 17120

 

Re: Unconstitutional use of taxpayer dollars to fund churches 

Dear Governor Tom Wolf and Senate President Fetterman,

As members of the Pittsburgh Freethought Community, with over 2,700 stakeholders, we are concerned about the unconstitutional use of $7 million dollars in Commonwealth funds allocated to two Baptist churches.

Under the budget provisions of SB0905 PN1754, Grace Baptist Church of Germantown is set to get $2 million while Bible Way Baptist Church in West Philadelphia is slated to get $5 million.

●        (Item E)  Acquisition, infrastructure, renovations, rehabilitation, construction

and other related costs for Grace Baptist Church in the Germantown

neighborhood of Philadelphia.  Project Allocation $2,000,00

●        (Item BBB) Acquisition, construction, infrastructure and other related costs

for the Bible Way Baptist Church Community Revitalization Complex

Project Allocation $5,000,000

Yet, Article 1, Section 3 of the Pennsylvania Constitution clearly guarantees no one “can of right be compelled to attend, erect or support any place of worship, or to maintain any ministry against his consent.”

The funds allocated to these two projects are unconstitutional and must be withdrawn from further consideration.  We thank you for attending to this matter and for reserving Commonwealth funding for projects that all Pennsylvanians, regardless of race, religion, gender or marital status, can take advantage of without discrimination.

Signed,

Dana Morganroth                                                                            Marie Schaub

Pittsburgh Freethought Community                                        Pittsburgh Freethought Community

President                                                                                             Public Policy Participation Committee Chair