S.Amdt. 6498Senate117th Congress (2021-2023)2nd degree
S.Amdt. 6498
Sponsored by
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA)
Submitted November 28, 2022
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Senate amendment submitted
November 28, 2022
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Submitted
SA 6498. Mr. CASSIDY submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 6487 proposed by Mr. Schumer (for Ms. Baldwin (for herself, Ms. Collins, Mr. Portman, Ms. Sinema, Mr. Tillis, and Ms. Lummis)) to the bill H.R. 8404, to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and ensure respect for State regulation of marriage, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows: At the appropriate place, insert the following: TITLE II--RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND MORAL CONVICTIONS SEC. 201. PROHIBITION AGAINST DISCRIMINATION OR SEGREGATION IN PLACES OF PUBLIC ACCOMMODATION. (a) Places of Public Accommodation.--Section 201 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000a) is amended-- (1) in subsection (b)-- (A) in paragraph (3), by striking ``and'' at the end; (B) by redesignating paragraph (4) as paragraph (6); and (C) by inserting after paragraph (3) the following: ``(4) any store, facility in a shopping center, or online retailer or provider of online services that has 1 or more employees in the current or preceding calendar year; ``(5) a social media platform provider; and''; (2) in subsection (c)-- (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``paragraph (1)'' and inserting ``paragraph (1) or (5)''; (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ``and'' at the end; (C) in paragraph (4), by striking ``paragraph (4)'' and inserting ``paragraph (6)''; (D) by redesignating paragraph (4) as paragraph (5); and (E) by inserting after paragraph (3) the following: ``(4) in the case of an establishment described in paragraph (4) of subsection (b), it sells or offers to sell a product or service that moves, or has moved, in commerce; and''; and (3) by adding at the end the following: ``(f) The provisions of this title shall not apply to a religious institution, including place of worship, religious camp, or religious school. ``(g) For purposes of this title: ``(1) The term `online retailer or provider of online services' means a commercial business, acting through a web page that invites the general public to purchase a good or service by use of a credit card or similar payment device over the internet, that provides content for the web page. The term does not mean a commercial business, acting through a web page that gives information, including information on quality, price, or availability, about a good or service but does not permit such purchase directly from the web page. ``(2) The term `social media platform provider' means the provider of a public website or internet application, including a mobile internet application, social network, video sharing service, advertising network, mobile operating system, search engine, email service, or internet access service, that promotes users posting content and others consuming that content.''. (b) Exception.--Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000a et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: ``SEC. 208. EXCEPTION FOR SMALL BUSINESSES. ``(a) Definition.--In this section, the term `small business' means an employer who does not have 15 or more employees for each working day in each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year. ``(b) Exception.--No small business shall be required, under this title or any other Federal, State, or local law, to provide a service related to a marriage of individuals of the same sex, if the small business declines to provide the service in accordance with a sincerely held religious belief, or moral conviction, that marriage is or should be recognized as a certain type of union. For purposes of this subsection, services related to marriage include services for any ceremony or related celebration of the marriage.''. SEC. 202. DETERMINATION OF TAX-EXEMPT STATUS MADE WITHOUT REGARD TO RELIGIOUS BELIEFS. Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended-- (1) by striking ``Corporations'' and inserting the following: ``(A) In general.--Corporations'', and (2) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph: ``(B) Determination made without regard to religious beliefs.-- ``(i) In general.--Any determination whether an organization is organized or operated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, literary, or educational purposes or complies with legal standards of charity shall be made without regard to the organization's religious beliefs or practices concerning the validity of marriages between individuals of the same sex. ``(ii) Religious.--For purposes of this paragraph, the term `religious' includes all aspects of religious belief, observance, and practice, whether or not compelled by, or central to, a system of religion.''. SEC. 203. CHILD WELFARE PROVIDER INCLUSION ACT. (a) Short Title of Section.--This section may be cited as the ``Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act of 2022''. (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this section are as follows: (1) To prohibit governmental entities from discriminating or taking an adverse action against a child welfare service provider on the basis that the provider declines to provide a child welfare service that conflicts, or under circumstances that conflict, with the sincerely held religious beliefs or moral convictions of the provider. (2) To protect child welfare service providers' exercise of religion and to ensure that governmental entities will not be able to force those providers, either directly or indirectly, to discontinue all or some of their child welfare services because they decline to provide a child welfare service that conflicts, or under circumstances that conflict, with their sincerely held religious beliefs or moral convictions. (3) To provide relief to child welfare service providers whose rights have been violated. (c) Discrimination and Adverse Actions Prohibited.-- (1) In general.--The Federal Government, and any State that receives Federal funding for any program that provides child welfare services under part B or E of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 621 et seq., 671 et seq.) (and any subdivision, office or department of such State) shall not discriminate or take an adverse action against a child welfare service provider on the basis that the provider has declined or will decline to provide, facilitate, or refer for a child welfare service that conflicts with, or under circumstances that conflict with, the provider's sincerely held religious beliefs or moral convictions. (2) Limitation.--Paragraph (1) does not apply to conduct forbidden by paragraph (18) of section 471(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 671(a)(18)). (d) Funds Withheld for Violation.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall withhold from a State 15 percent of the Federal funds the State receives for a program that provides child welfare services under part B or E of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 621 et seq., 671 et seq.) if the State violates subsection (c) when administering or disbursing funds under such program. (e) Private Right of Action.-- (1) In general.--A child welfare service provider aggrieved by a violation of subsection (c) may assert that violation as a claim or defense in a judicial proceeding and obtain all appropriate relief, including declaratory relief, injunctive relief, and compensatory damages, with respect to that violation. (2) Attorneys' fees and costs.--A child welfare service provider that prevails in an action by establishing a violation of subsection (c) is entitled to recover reasonable attorneys' fees and costs. (3) Waiver of sovereign immunity.--By accepting or expending Federal funds in connection with a program that provides child welfare services under part B or E of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 621 et seq., 671 et seq.), a State waives its sovereign immunity for any claim or defense that is raised under this subsection. (f) Severability.--If any provision of this section, or any application of such provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder of this section and the application of the provision to any other person or circumstance shall not be affected. (g) Effective Date.-- (1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), this section shall take effect on the 1st day of the 1st fiscal year beginning on or after the date of the enactment of [[Page S6827]] this section, and the withholding of funds authorized by subsection (d) shall apply to payments under parts B and E of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 621 et seq., 671 et seq.) for calendar quarters beginning on or after such date. (2) Exception.--If legislation (other than legislation appropriating funds) is required for a governmental entity to bring itself into compliance with this section, the governmental entity shall not be regarded as violating this section before the 1st day of the 1st calendar quarter beginning after the 1st regular session of the legislative body that begins after the date of the enactment of this section. For purposes of the preceding sentence, if the governmental entity has a 2-year legislative session, each year of the session is deemed to be a separate regular session. (h) Definitions.--In this section: (1) Child welfare service provider.--The term ``child welfare service provider'' includes organizations, corporations, groups, entities, or individuals that provide or seek to provide, or that apply for or receive a contract, subcontract, grant, or subgrant for the provision of, child welfare services. A provider need not be engaged exclusively in child welfare services to be considered a child welfare service provider for purposes of this section. (2) Child welfare services.--The term ``child welfare services'' means social services provided to or on behalf of children, including assisting abused, neglected, or troubled children, counseling children or parents, promoting foster parenting, providing foster homes or temporary group shelters for children, recruiting foster parents, placing children in foster homes, licensing foster homes, promoting adoption, recruiting adoptive parents, assisting adoptions, supporting adoptive families, assisting kinship guardianships, assisting kinship caregivers, providing family preservation services, providing family support services, and providing time-limited family reunification services. (3) State.--The term ``State'' means each of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, any commonwealth, territory or possession of the United States, and any political subdivision thereof, and any Indian tribe, tribal organization, or tribal consortium that has a plan approved in accordance with section 479B of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 679c) or that has a cooperative agreement or contract with one of the 50 States for the administration or payment of funds under part B or E of title IV of the Social Security Act. (4) Funding; funded; funds.--The terms ``funding'', ``funded'', or ``funds'' include money paid pursuant to a contract, grant, voucher, or similar means. (5) Adverse action.--The term ``adverse action'' includes, but is not limited to, denying a child welfare service provider's application for funding, refusing to renew the provider's funding, canceling the provider's funding, declining to enter into a contract with the provider, refusing to renew a contract with the provider, canceling a contract with the provider, declining to issue a license to the provider, refusing to renew the provider's license, canceling the provider's license, terminating the provider's employment, or any other adverse action that materially alters the terms or conditions of the provider's employment, funding, contract, or license. ______