Alabama Republican Congressman Barry Moore announced that he is an original cosponsor of both the Right to Earn a Living Act and the Protecting Religion from Government Act.
The Protecting Religion from Government Act would prevent state and local governments from interfering with services held at houses of worship by allowing citizens to sue those governments that attempt to prohibit or regulate religious services. The Right to Earn a Living Act would classify state and local governments that implement certain lockdown orders on small businesses ineligible to receive funds from the Coronavirus Relief Fund, excluding funding for important COVID relief like testing or PPP.
“Congress must stop bailing out states that implement burdensome restrictions on small businesses struggling to recover from the economic impact of COVID lockdowns,” Moore said in a statement.
The Right to Earn a Living Act and the Protecting Religion from Government Act are both sponsored by Congressman Bob Good, R-Virginia. If passed the Right to Earn a Living Act would prevent Congress from subsidizing states that prevent small businesses from opening. The Protecting Religion from Government Act seeks to protect Americans’ First Amendment rights by allowing citizens to sue state or local governments that attempt to regulate or suspend religious services.
“Draconian lockdowns implemented by predominately blue states are killing small businesses. Congress must stop bailing out states that implement burdensome restrictions on small businesses struggling to recover from the economic impact of COVID lockdowns,” Moore said. “The best way to rebuild the economy is to reopen the economy and supporting pro-growth bills that bolster small businesses and cut red tape is a key part of that.”
“Now more than ever, people are leaning on their faith for strength,” Moore said. “The fact that states would circumvent the First Amendment rights of religious organizations and Americans by shutting down places of worship is unimaginable and unconstitutional. I believe that Americans should have the right to worship free from restrictive government oversight, just as the founding fathers intended.”
Both California and New York have dramatically imposed severe lockdowns in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The United States Supreme Court has had to issue injunctions against both states’ bans on worship after worship bans went on for over eight months.
State and local governments that imposed the draconian lockdowns then asked the federal government to bail them out for their lost tax revenues from them shutting down their own economies. Despite the efforts of Democratic Governors Gavin Newsome and Andrew Cuomo, the two heavily populated states are number one and two in total COVID-19 deaths with 48,347 and 46,676.
