# H.R. 227 (119th): Clergy Act

Clergy Act This bill establishes a two-year window for certain members of the clergy and Christian Science practitioners to revoke their exemption from Social Security and Medicare taxes on ministerial earnings. Under current law, such individuals who object to participation in public insurance programs on religious or conscientious grounds may apply to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for an irrevocable exemption and will not receive Social Security or Medicare benefits in retirement unless they have qualifying credits from other employment. The IRS must develop a plan to inform members of the clergy and Christian Science practitioners of their eligibility to revoke prior exemptions, pursuant to the bill's changes.

## How this bill is scored

Tier: no Tier 1 record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
Lane: clergy_benefits. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: religious_liberty. Category: liberty_conscience. Lane tag: general equity.
Lane: social_security. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: tax_policy. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Tier 1 sign-off: no record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
Stored polarity: mixed. Only tags the rules mark scoreable on a mixed bill are scored. A yea can draw a penalty or a credit according to the tag. A nay on a tag scored as good can draw a penalty.
Roll 139: On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended. Vote type: final_passage.
Polarity rationale: Reviewed enrichment (llm_import) polarity: The bill concerns a religious and conscientious tax-and-benefit accommodation. It restores an election to people who previously made an irrevocable choice, which involves real but prudential tradeoffs about retirement security, fiscal effects, and the weight given to conscience. It does not directly restrain evil or advance moral harm, so it falls under mixed rather than good or evil.
Theological note: The measure touches religious conscience in relation to participation in public insurance programs, but its operative effect is to let previously exempt clergy opt back into the system rather than to protect a conscience claim from coercion. Scripture's concern for honest dealing, provision for the household, and respect for the consciences of believers makes the issue relevant, but the bill does not directly restrain or advance a named moral evil.

## Recorded votes

Roll 139: On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended. Yea 350 · Nay 5 · Other 74.

HTML: https://justmeasure.org/bill/hr-227-119/