The Senate has approved Sen. Barbara Boxer's legislation authorizing up to $10 million in federal funds to help restore California's 21 historic Roman Catholic missions, but critics are threatening a lawsuit, saying the measure violates the doctrine of separating church and state.
An earlier version of the legislation, approved Sunday night without a roll call vote, had cleared the House in October 2003. The Senate bill needs another House vote, which could come in a lame-duck session after the Nov. 2 election, before being sent to President Bush.
The legislation requires the California Missions Foundation, which has begun a $50 million fund-raising effort, to match the federal money. State funds are also expected to help restore the string of adobe missions established from 1769 to 1823 by Franciscan monks. These funds are from Proposition 40, approved by voters in March 2002, which set aside $267 million for historic preservation projects.
"This is something very special for the people of California and this nation,'' Boxer, who is running for re-election on Nov. 2, said on the Senate floor Monday. "It's been a long, hard road.''
More than 5 million visitors a year tour the missions, which were established from San Diego in the south to Sonoma in the north. The missions need extensive renovations to keep them from crumbling from the ravages of time, insects and earthquakes.
But Americans United for Separation of Church and State said Monday that taxpayer money shouldn't be spent on buildings with a religious function. Nineteen of the 21 missions are operating churches, owned either by local dioceses or the Franciscans.
"We're very concerned about the constitutionality of it,'' said Joe Conn, a spokesman for the group. "Our legal department will look at it and consider a lawsuit. I don't think the Founding Fathers intended for Congress to maintain these buildings in this way.''
The bill was endorsed by 48 of the 53 House members from California and co-sponsored in the Senate by the state's other Democratic senator, Dianne Feinstein. The lawmakers stressed the missions' role in California history as the main reason for getting funds for preservation.
The missions played a key role in the European settlement of California and the early interactions with American Indians. Seven of the 21 missions are national landmarks, and they are all state landmarks studied by the state's public school fourth-graders.
To deal with the church-state issue, the Senate bill was amended to say that the Department of Justice will review all applications for grants to certify that they do not promote religion with public funds and that money will only go to preserve the missions' historic features. Similar requirements have been attached to earlier legislation providing federal help for restoring missions in San Antonio, Texas, Boxer's staff said.
In addition, under President Bush, federals funds have gone to restore Boston's Old North Church and the Touro Synagogue in Newport, R.I.
The Bush administration's position on the bill isn't entirely clear, even though it passed both houses with overwhelming Republican support.
Knox Mellon, the mission foundation's executive director, said he thought the bill passes legal tests. Mellon, whose group so far has raised only $3.6 million of its $50 million goal, said the federal help, which would be spread out over five years, should motivate private giving.
He said the foundation is awaiting a ruling from state Attorney General Bill Lockyer on the legality of using Prop. 40 funds for restoring church- owned property before it applies for grants. But he is optimistic because state and federal grants have gone to the missions already for earthquake repairs.