These states are the friendliest and freest for faith groups this election year, new study says
A newly released report evaluating each state's religious and regulatory freedoms for faith-based nonprofits largely found red states better protected these groups.
A newly released study evaluating each of the 50 U.S. states' regulatory and religious freedom laws found Alabama and Indiana ranked highest in the nation in 2024 for protecting the freedoms of faith groups, while Washington and Michigan ranked the lowest.
Napa Legal Institute released its second annual "Faith and Freedom Index," which looks at 14 types of state laws, broken down into the two categories of religious freedom and regulatory freedom, that affect faith-based, tax-exempt nonprofits. It then assigns a rating to each law on how it best supports these nonprofits' ability to operate.
The 2024 report found just eight states received a score of 60% or higher for protecting both religious and regulatory freedoms. Those states were, Utah, Texas, Kansas, Iowa, Indiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and New Hampshire.
According to Napa Legal, Alabama and Indiana scored the highest in the nation, overall, because they had "straightforward corporate, tax, and fundraising regimes." Alabama specifically received the highest score (86%), for advancing religious freedom, while Indiana took the top score (81%), for having regulatory laws which didn't hinder faith groups' operations.
Conversely, Michigan and Washington ranked lowest in both categories overall because they "over-burden and are even hostile towards faith-based nonprofits" with their regulatory and religious freedom laws, according to the report.
Michigan received the lowest score, (22%), for failing to advance religious freedom in the state, while Illinois ranked lowest, (43%), for regulatory freedom.
The legal education group, whose mission is to educate and equip faith-based nonprofits "with the tools and resources they need so they can protect their organizations and achieve their missions," said that protecting religious freedom is critical this election.
"The Faith and Freedom Index clearly shows that states must actively engage in the battle for religious freedom and a flourishing civil society. The work of faith-based nonprofits is especially crucial this election year, in which many Americans are uncertain about the future of our nation and are seeing escalating attacks on religious freedom and conscience rights across the country," Napa Legal Vice President and Executive Director Mary Margaret Beecher said in a press release.
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"It's encouraging to see states like Alabama and Texas staunchly protecting these crucial rights. However, these rights belong to Americans regardless of the state they inhabit. Now is the time for states that do not have robust protections of these rights to move towards doing so," she continued.
The study also found some states, such as Iowa, Nebraska and Utah, had passed legislation protecting religious freedoms since the release of Napa Legal's 2023 Faith and Freedom Index, earning these states a higher score in this year's edition.
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