Bush Names Faith-Based Director, Announces New Program - February 4, 2002 Vol. 3 No. 3

February 4, 2002 Vol. 3 No. 3:

Published: 02/04/2002

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Bush Names Faith-Based Director, Announces New Program

Jim Towey takes over the Faith-Based office after a year of false starts and legislative stagnation. One of the administration's original plans, direct government funding of religious institutions' social service work, has proven to be an extremely controversial issue, and has held up legislation that would provide more donations for charities.

Last week, the White House introduced Jim Towey as the new director of the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. Towey has headed the group Aging With Dignity since 1996, and was previously Florida's Human Services Secretary under Governor Lawton Chiles (D) and an aide to Sen. Mark Hatfield (R-OR).

While Towey is charged with "eliminating barriers that discriminate against community and faith-based organizations," in the past he has said that faith-based organizations "shouldn't be trying to get converts on the government's nickel." Towey takes over the Faith-Based office after a year of false starts and legislative stagnation. One of the administration's original plans, direct government funding of religious institutions' social service work, has proven to be an extremely controversial issue, and has held up legislation that would provide more donations for charities.

The White House also announced the new USA Freedom Corps which will be headed by administration domestic policy advisor John Bridgeland. The USA Freedom Corps' main goals are developing a new Citizen Corps for improving homeland security, improving and enhancing AmeriCorps and Senior Corps, and strengthening the Peace Corps. The White House has requested over $560 million in new funding for the USA Freedom Corps in its 2003 budget.

Bridgeland will also chair the new Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. This Council will be made up of five Cabinet secretaries and Steve Goldsmith, Chairman of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which runs the AmeriCorps program. It is not clear at this time exactly what the tie-in between the USA Freedom Corps and the Faith-Based office is, but one clue may lie in the reciprocal nature of their respective boards: not only does the director of the Freedom Corps serve on the board of the Faith-Based office, but the director of the Faith-Based office is also on the Freedom Corps board.

The Administration's FY 2003 budget calls for other spending on faith-based and community programs including $100 million for the Compassion Capital Fund, $10 million for maternity group homes, $25 million for mentoring children of prisoners, and $20 million for a Responsible Fatherhood Initiative. This budget also assumes $6 billion in charitable giving incentives will be passed into law by Congress.