April 20, 2006 | Read Time: 1 minute
TAX WATCHBy Elizabeth Schwinn
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a watchdog group, has asked the IRS to investigate a religious organization that it says has become involved in partisan politics.
The watchdog group says it was concerned that the Pennsylvania Pastors Network featured a video of Sen. Rick Santorum, a Pennsylvania Republican, at a training session to help religious leaders learn how to encourage members of their congregations to vote in this fall’s elections. It said that showing the video was a violation of federal law prohibiting charities from supporting or opposing candidates for elected office.
Organizers of the session denied any wrongdoing.
Meanwhile, Christian and Jewish religious leaders in Ohio have followed up on a complaint they made in January about two large evangelical churches they accused of breaking the rules on partisan campaigning.
Ministers, rabbis, and other leaders from 31 congregations previously told the IRS that Fairfield Christian Church in Lancaster and World Harvest Church in Columbus were breaking the law by featuring J. Kenneth Blackwell, a Republican candidate for governor, at their events.
In an April 6 follow-up letter, the religious leaders said both churches have continued their political activities. The leaders also complained that the IRS appears to have taken no action on their earlier letter.
The Fairfield and World Harvest churches deny any wrongdoing. As is its policy, the IRS declined to comment on the cases.
