Fla. Legislators Sneak `Faith-Based' Aid Into State Budget Bill.

Frustrated by their inability to pass legislation giving tax aid to churches to provide social services, Florida's Republican leadership did an end run around the legislative process and smuggled the measure into an omnibus budget bill.

The "faith-based" proposal has been introduced before by Rep. Johnnie Byrd (R-Plant City) but has failed to pass as freestanding legislation. It would require state agencies to come up with plans for distributing tax aid to religious groups for programs such as drug- and alcohol-abuse treatment, child care and after-school care.

Although strongly backed by Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R), the plan has been bogged flown over concerns about accountability. After the latest version passed the House but stalled in the Senate, Byrd and other GOP leaders inserted it directly into the state's $53.3 billion budget.

Under the procedure, known as a "proviso," the measure does not face committee hearings or debate. Some leaders of the GOP, which holds a majority in both houses of the legislature, defended the move.

"This issue is being debated nationally, it's on the Sunday talk shows, and we've debated it in the House for years" House Speaker Tom Feeney (R-Oviedo) told The Tampa Tribune. "This is nothing new. The question is, do you discriminate against faith-based groups or treat them the same as any other organization?"

But critics said the question was more complex than that, noting that the measure could open the door to taxpayer-funded proselytism or funding of groups that engage in religious discrimination.

Daniel Ruth, a columnist for the Tribune, criticized the GOP leadership for circumventing the legislative process. "Excuse me, but where is it written that a faith-based group is entitled to unscrutinzed public funds simply on the basis of religious orientation? What's this? The Immaculate Tax Exemption?," he wrote in an April 4 column. "If an elected official attempted to secretly finagle a bill through the Legislature that benefited private industry to the tune of hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars, the public outrage would be deafening. But slap a halo around the same measure and Byrd expects everyone to genuflect and vote yea."

In other news about "charitable choice":

* Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) has ordered the Child Welfare Agency to give a contract to a fundamentalist-oriented home for troubled youngsters called The Lord's Ranch, despite the organization's reluctance to accept government oversight in the past.

Staffers at The Lord's Ranch, based in Warm Springs, blocked state inspectors from interviewing children about suspected abuse in 1994, reported the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. That same day, the Randolph County sheriff's office reported that Ted Suhl, director of the ranch, had purchased two AR-15 assault rifles, two shotguns and several handguns. (Suhl claims he bought just one handgun and did not keep it at the ranch.)

A 1996 report by state officials noted further compliance problems at the ranch. Nevertheless, Huckabee appointed Suhl to the Child Welfare Agency Licensing Board and approved the facility for $140,490 in state funds, to be used for psychological treatment of children.

Suhl and other officials at the Lord's Ranch donated $8,650 to Huckabee's reelection campaigns between December 1996 and December 2000, but he told the Democrat-Gazette the contributions had nothing to do with governor's support for the children's home.

* An Atlanta church has sparked controversy over its policy of beating children during services and forcing girls as young as 14 to get married. Members of the House of Prayer say their methods are based on the Bible, but state authorities disagree and have removed 41 children of church members from their homes. State officials say the beatings, which left bruises, open sores and welts on some children, are a form of abuse.

Critics of "charitable choice" assert that once tax aid is extended to religious groups, controversial churches like the House of Prayer could insist on government funding.