Along with every other kind of structure, many houses of worship were badly damaged by superstorm Sandy. But are those houses of worship eligible for federal aid via FEMA’s Public Assistance program, which provides federal funds for restoring or replacing government facilities and the facilities of certain nonprofit and tribal organizations? To be eligible, the nonprofit facilities have to be “open to the public” and “provide certain services otherwise performed by a government agency.” Those “certain services” are defined pretty broadly: education, communications, residential care, low-income housing, substance-abuse treatment, transportation to medical care, etc.

So do damaged houses of worship, including orthodox Jewish institutions, fit the criteria because of services they provide to the community? The Orthodox Union and Agudath Israel have been in discussion with FEMA and the Obama administration to clarify the rules and to advocate for broad eligibility.

Beyond the issue of the specific eligibility criteria for the Public Assistance program is a broader question: may the federal government legitimately “aid” religious organizations, and even houses of worship? After the bombing of the Murrah federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995, Congress acted to make houses of worship eligible for rebuilding assistance (see I. Lupu and R. Tuttle, “Historic Preservation Grants to Houses of Worship“). During the George W. Bush administration, based on changes in US Supreme Court interpretations of the religion clauses of the First Amendment, reconstruction aid was approved for a Jewish school damaged in an earthquake and historic preservation funds were approved for a Boston church building (see I. Lupu and R. Tuttle, “New Federal Policies on Grants for Disaster Relief or Historic Preservation at Houses of Worship and Places of Religious Instruction“).