By Talton                                            H.C.R. No. 190
         77R7826 RVH-D                           
                             HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
 1-1           WHEREAS, The religious freedom clauses of the First Amendment
 1-2     of the United States Constitution provide that "Congress shall make
 1-3     no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the
 1-4     free exercise thereof"; and
 1-5           WHEREAS, The establishment clause prohibits the federal
 1-6     government from passing legislation to establish an official
 1-7     religion or preferring one religion over another; the free exercise
 1-8     clause prohibits the government, in most instances, from
 1-9     interfering with a person's practice of religion; and
1-10           WHEREAS, However, questions of national concern have arisen
1-11     regarding the application of the general tax laws and other general
1-12     regulatory laws of the government of the United States to the
1-13     churches of this nation; and
1-14           WHEREAS, Many religious organizations have been structured as
1-15     nonprofit legal entities and qualify for statutory tax exemptions
1-16     under Section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code, but
1-17     for churches that have not chosen to organize themselves
1-18     specifically as tax-exempt entities the applicability of federal
1-19     tax laws and regulations is unclear; now, therefore, be it
1-20           RESOLVED, That the 77th Legislature of the State of Texas
1-21     hereby respectfully urge the Congress of the United States to
1-22     declare its intent that the general tax laws and other general
1-23     regulatory laws of the government of the United States of America
1-24     shall not apply to the churches of this nation, including those
 2-1     that are not explicitly structured as tax-exempt nonprofit
 2-2     corporations; and, be it further
 2-3           RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
 2-4     copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
 2-5     the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of
 2-6     the senate of the United States Congress, and to all the members of
 2-7     the Texas delegation to the congress with the request that this
 2-8     resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a
 2-9     memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.