Dear Fellow Utahns,

Faith enlightens every decision I make as your Senator. I strive to ensure that Utah’s faith communities have the protection and freedom they deserve to be able to thrive. I have assembled this first edition newsletter on religious liberty to highlight relevant developments in our country. I have also shared interesting and insightful interactions I have had with some of Utah’s unique religious communities. I would likewise appreciate the opportunity to meet with your religious community if I have not already done so. I invite you to take the time to review and reflect on this material along with the role of faith in our society. If there is anything you may like to see in future newsletters, please do not hesitate to let me know.

Michael S. Lee

United States Senator for Utah

Legislation

Sponsored Legislation

1. Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act

2. Protecting Life in Foreign Assistance Act

3. Child Tax Credit for Pregnant Moms Act of 2022

Cosponsored Legislation

1. Child Welfare Provision Inclusion Act

2. Lee-Rubio Child Tax Credit Plan

From Committee

Joint Economic Committee

The Joint Economic Committee is Congress’s bicameral economic research center led by Ranking Member Mike Lee.

Return Utah Successes

Ranking Member Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) shared an illustrative story from the Return Utah program in today’s Joint Economic Committee hearing on older workers. The new workforce training initiative, created by Utah’s Lieutenant Governor Deidre Henderson, is designed to help Utahns who are looking for work after an extended absence.

Click to watch Ranking Member Lee’s remarks below:

“Ultimately, a thriving, unencumbered economy is the best way to allow older Americans to make the choices best suited for themselves and their families—whether that’s spending more time with the kids and grandkids, volunteering in a local congregation, maintaining a long healthy working life, or all of the above.”

Read Ranking Member Lee’s full remarks HERE, and testimony from Dr. Andrew Biggs, Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, HERE.

Social Capital Project

Senator Lee has been fighting to protect Americans’ freedoms to exercise their beliefs. Check out this clip against Biden’s vaccine mandate from a recent JEC hearing.

“The federal vaccine mandate is an obstacle to connecting people to work, and there is no legal or constitutional authority for it. Under the mandate, some Americans would be forced to make a personal health decision against their will or face losing their job. This ultimatum to workers is unacceptable and immoral.”

Click here to see the full clip.

Here are reports from the second volume of our Social Capital Project:

Expanding Child Care Choices

The tax code shouldn’t discriminate against single-income families who choose to have a parent stay at home. Senator Lee recommended reforming tax benefits to make it easier for families to raise children in the way they deem best.

Higher Education and Family Formation

The popular narrative that student debt delays marriage and kids paints a misleading picture. Policymakers should focus on making higher education work better for Americans by allowing competition, improving income-based repayment, and supporting community colleges, trade schools, and non-traditional pathways to the workforce.

Balancing the Costs of School Closures

School closures throughout the COVID-19 pandemic harmed children’s learning and the mental health of parents, students, and teachers. Senator Lee supports improving America’s educational system with innovative alternatives to traditional one-size-fits-all education.

Finally, these shorter pieces with social capital information are about how the pandemic has created unique obstacles to religious participation, how car seat laws indirectly raise the costs of having a third child, and whether families will want to continue homeschooling after schools fully reopen.

Please contact Chris Coombs (Chris_Coombs@Lee.Senate.Gov) to receive complimentary copies of the Joint Economic Committee’s Social Capital Project publications: An Overview of Social Capital Vol. 1 & A Policy Agenda for Social Capital Vol. 2.

Judicial

Cases

Carson v. Makin: Public education funding and religious education

To ensure school-age children receive a free public education, the Maine State Legislature created a tuition assistance program. However, private schools labeled as “sectarian” by the state were not approved for funding. In 2018, three sets of parents filed against the state, alleging an infringement on their First Amendment rights. The Court will decide whether a state violates the Constitution by prohibiting students from choosing to use their aid to attend schools that provide religious instruction. The case will involve the Supreme Court's decision in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue (2020).

Ramirez v. Collier: Religious accommodations during an execution

In 2008, Ramirez was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. One month before his execution, Ramirez filed a spiritual advisory claim requesting to have his pastor be permitted to pray aloud and physically touch him in the execution chamber while the sentence was carried out. After Texas denied this request, Ramirez appealed arguing a violation of his constitutional rights by declining to accommodate all of his religious needs. The Court will decide if allowing a pastor to enter the execution chamber but not physically touch Ramirez or pray aloud violates his constitutional rights of free exercise.

Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany v. Lacewell: Mandating insurance cover abortions

In 2017, New York passed a regulation mandating that employer health insurance plans cover abortions. The mandate applies to a subset of religious organizations who do not support abortions. The Court will answer three questions: (1) if the regulation is “neutral” and “generally applicable” under Smith and City of Hialeah (2) if New York’s regulation violates the First Amendment by interfering with the autonomy of religious entities and (3) if the Court’s decision in Smith should be overruled? The case will involve the Supreme Court's decision Employment Division v. Smith (1990).

Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo: Limiting occupancy for religious services

The Court granted injunctive relief to stop New York Governor Cuomo from enforcing Executive Order 202.68’s 10- and 25-person occupancy limits on religious services during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Court found that the plaintiff's rights to free exercise were most likely violated because Cuomo’s orders “single out houses of worship for especially harsh treatment” that were not imposed on stores, factories, and schools.

Dignity Health v. Minton: Requiring religious hospital to permit medical procedures

The case concerns whether a California Catholic hospital can be required to perform a hysterectomy on a transgender patient. The Court will answer if (1) free exercise and (2) freedom of expression and association are violated where the State compels a religiously affiliated hospital to allow medical procedures that violate its longstanding, deeply held religious beliefs.

Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization: Ban on abortions after 15 weeks

In 2018, Mississippi enacted the "Gestational Age Act," which effectively prohibits abortions after 15-weeks. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the only licensed abortion facility in Mississippi, challenged the law as unconstitutional arguing the earliest point where a State can justify a ban on abortions is after 24-weeks where there is fetal viability. The Court will consider the constitutionality of Mississippi’s law prohibiting abortions after the fifteenth week of pregnancy except in cases of medical emergencies or fetal abnormalities. The case will involve the Supreme Court's decision Roe v. Wade (1973) and Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992).

Recent Press Releases

Sen. Lee Celebrates the March for Life

“Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; inalienable rights, endowed by our Creator. This is the promise of America, yet for millions of unborn babies, because of a twisted precedent and a misreading of the Constitution, that promise is denied. Equality begins in the womb."

Click here to see the full release.

Standing for the Unborn

"Mr./ Madam President, the lives of babies and the dignity of women are not political footballs. Women and unborn children everywhere have immeasurable dignity and worth, regardless of where they are from. And they are entitled to the right to life and protection from harm – regardless of who is in office."

Click here for the full release.

Utah Constituencies

Utah Catholics

Greek Orthodox Community

On behalf of his Greek Orthodox constituents, Senator Lee was one of 50 U.S. Senators to sign the letter to the President regarding the official and historic visit of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to Washington, DC in October.

BYU Federalist Society

"I believe in the eternal worth of the immortal human soul, that's why I carry the [Constitution], that's why I follow it, even if it doesn't make me popular."

JEC & Return Utah

2022 Significant Religious Holidays

Christian

Palm Sunday: April 10th.

Good Friday: April 15th.

Easter: April 17th.

Eastern Orthodox Easter (Pascha): April 24th.

Ascension Day: May 26th.

Pentecost: June 5th.

Pioneer Day: July 24th.

All Saints’ Day: November 1st.

Christmas Day: December 25th.

Jewish

Prim: March 16-17.

Passover Festival: April 15-23.

Shavuot: June 4-6.

Rosh Hashanah: September 25-27.

Yom Kippur: October 4-5.

Sukkah Festival: October 9-16.

Hanukkah: December 18-26.

Muslim

Ramadan: April 2nd-May 2nd.

Laylat al-Qadr: April 29th.

Eid al-Adha: July 9-10.

Islamic New Year: July 29-30.

Prophet’s Birthday: October 7-8.

Hindu

Holy: March 18th.

Navaratri: September 26-October 5.5.

Diwali Festival: October 24th.

Recommended Reading: Key Reports

2021, Duke University, Congregations in 21st Century America

December 2021, Pew, Christians, religiously unaffiliated differ on whether most things in society can be divided into good, evil

November 2021, Pew, Both Republicans and Democrats prioritize family, but they differ over other sources of meaning in life

November 2021, Becket, Religious Freedom Index results: Americans increase support for religious freedom with highest Index score yet

Recommended Reading:

Key News/Articles

(not necessarily endorsement)