WSJ Goes After Nonprofit DEI Programs (Opinion) . . . and Church Retirement Plans (Article)

It is probably no surprise that the Wall Street Journal recently published an Opinion piece titled From Bob Jones to Columbia University and DEI: To cement his campus civil-rights legacy, Trump should enlist the most fearsome agency: the IRS (subscription required). The Opinion argues that a combination of congressional action – particularly the Civil Rights Act of 1991 – and the Supreme Court’s recent Students for Fair Admissions decision require the IRS to update Revenue Ruling 71-447 relating to racial discrimination in schools to cover “illegal DEI measures and [to] protect students, including Jews, from illegal discriminatory harassment.” It notes that doing so should lead to most affected schools renouncing their problematic activities and so generally not require actual revocation of tax-exempt status.

It may be a bit more of a surprise that the same publication, although not on the editorial page, has raised questions about the exemption from many federal laws for retirement plans maintained by church-affiliated entities, including hospitals. Titled Church Retirement Plans Sidestep Federal Oversight—and Employees Pay the Price: Pension collapses at church-affiliated hospitals and other organizations upend retirees’ plans (subscription required), it notes: “But churches and other religious organizations can opt out of the federal [Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) of 1974] system, which requires retirement plans and their sponsors to fund pensions well in advance and to set aside retirement savings in dedicated accounts. That has left hundreds of thousands of workers vulnerable.” 

Lloyd Mayer