In June, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously decided that the Wisconsin Supreme Court violated the First Amendment when they ruled to withhold a tax-exempt benefit from the nonprofit Catholic Charities Bureau. The case was sent back to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Although the intended remedy was to grant the tax-exempt benefit to the Catholic bureau, State Attorney General Kaul recently introduced a new option to the Wisconsin high court: eliminating the exemption altogether.

AG Kaul’s proposal ignores the clear intentions of the US Supreme Court. There’s no good reason to axe the exemption other than to make a political statement. If the Wisconsin court agrees with Kaul, many non-profits will be impacted; and this issue will stay in litigation for months if not years.