The floodgates have opened for government funding of religious institutions, and the struggle to determine how funds should be allocated has begun. 

It’s a struggle that’s pitting groups like the American Civil Liberties Union against Senator Rubio, as left and right are working to legislate and regulate new guidelines for federal funding of religious organizations. 

At stake is the definition of discrimination — liberals argue that funding for religious institutions should be curbed because these organizations may discriminate against gay Americans or members of other faiths. Conservatives say that such arguments discriminate against religion, and religious institutions should be protected from antidiscrimination laws that cast their core tenets as bigotry.

The sudden interest in these questions is the result of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Carson v. Makin. In June, the Nine ruled, six to three, against a Maine law that prohibited school vouchers from being used at religious schools. 

Maine argued that funding attendance at religious schools would put the state in jeopardy of violating the Constitution’s establishment clause by funding religious institutions with taxpayer dollars. The Court, however, ruled that such a prohibition was tantamount to “discrimination against religion” and violated the Constitution’s free exercise clause. 

In the court’s decision, the court’s leading moderate, Chief Justice Roberts, wrote that a “State’s antiestablishment interest does not justify enactments that exclude some members of the community from an otherwise generally available public benefit because of their religious exercise.”

The ruling opens the door for public funding by prohibiting the exclusion of religious groups from otherwise available public benefits — such as vouchers, grants, or other funding to provide public services. 

In Maine and across the country, liberals are galvanizing to protect what they see as the “wall of separation between church and state” and prevent public funding of religious institutions.

In early August, the Coalition Against Religious Discrimination wrote a letter to nine Biden administration cabinet members urging greater oversight of federal funding to faith-based organizations. 

The coalition includes the American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood, the Freedom from Religion Foundation, and more than a dozen left-of-center Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, and Muslim groups.

The coalition called on the Biden administration to prevent “the sanctioning of federally funded discrimination.” The group argued that “government-funded employers” should be prohibited from “impos[ing] a religious test on their applicants or employees.”

The group also implicitly questioned whether religious groups could effectively carry out public service projects free of bias. 

“We suggest adding language stating that merit-based funding decisions must include objective consideration of whether an organization will serve all program participants and perform all services that are necessary to fulfill the program’s objectives,” the letter said.

The group recommended that the government minimize voucher programs “because people retain fewer religious freedom protections in voucher programs” — and suggested the creation of a discrimination monitoring process for religious partner organizations.

The day before the CARD letter, Mr. Rubio introduced a bill to guarantee eligibility of religious organizations in federal grantmaking and partnership programs. The bill from the senior senator from Florida aims to protect religious organizations from such regulations.

Mr. Rubio’s “Lifting Local Communities Act” would try to create a “level playing field” for religious organizations to apply for federal grants, social services contracts, or other forms of funding.

The bill would protect recipient organizations from conditions that would limit their religious autonomy. The bill says that “receipt of Federal financial assistance will not obstruct or hinder their ability  to organize and operate in accordance with their sincerely held religious values.”

That could include compliance with anti-discrimination that violate these group’s core religious tenets. For example, the bill expressly prohibits requirements to modify hiring practices — for which CARD argued. 

Under Mr. Rubio’s bill, religious institutions receiving federal grants would maintain the right to “select, promote, or dismiss” board members and employees “on the basis of their acceptance of or adherence to the religious tenets of the organization.”

“Churches and other faith-based organizations play a vital role in lifting up their communities,” Mr. Rubio said in a statement. “These organizations should not be discriminated against because of their faith or held back by bureaucratic red tape. This bill would ensure that faith-based organizations do not have to compromise their beliefs to provide critical social services to those in need.”