The Freedom From Religion Foundation is decrying a provision in Florida’s newly approved state budget that would hand $15 million in taxpayer funds directly to Catholic schools.

The funding, included in the state’s $114.5 billion budget, would benefit 68 Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Miami in Miami-Dade, Broward and Monroe counties. Catholic officials have said the money will be used for projects such as fencing, bulletproof glass, surveillance systems and additional law enforcement officers.

“This is a blatant example of taxpayers being forced to subsidize religious institutions” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “The government has no business singling out one denomination for special treatment and handing it millions of dollars in public funds, particularly with our public schools, which serve all evenhandedly, being grossly underfunded.”

The appropriation was the product of a coordinated lobbying effort by the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops and other Catholic advocates. Jim Rigg, superintendent of Catholic Schools for the Archdiocese of Miami, said he was “overjoyed” by the funding and “hopes that the security grants are just the beginning of prolonged state support for Catholic school students.”

That statement should alarm every Floridian concerned about the separation of church and state, FFRF warns.

“This isn’t a one-time request for emergency assistance,” says Gaylor. “Catholic officials are openly celebrating this appropriation as the beginning of a long-term taxpayer funding stream for Catholic schools.”

The funding is especially troubling because Catholic schools are already major beneficiaries of Florida’s massive school-voucher program, which would receive roughly $4.5 billion under the proposed state budget. Now, on top of taxpayer-funded tuition subsidies, lawmakers are directing millions more in public money specifically to Catholic institutions.

Catholic leaders have argued that their schools deserve state funding because they face security concerns and because Jewish schools have received state security grants in recent years. But FFRF notes that the solution to one unconstitutional subsidy is not another.

“Every child deserves to be safe at school,” Gaylor says. “But if the state wishes to provide security assistance, it must do so through neutral programs that treat all schools equally, not by carving out special appropriations for politically connected religious organizations.”

The appropriation also raises serious concerns about government entanglement with religion. Catholic leaders have made it clear that the funds could be used to hire additional security personnel for church-operated schools, thereby reducing costs currently covered by tuition, donations and church resources.

According to Catholic officials, some schools spend as much as $150,000 annually for on-site law enforcement officers. Public funds would now relieve religious institutions of expenses they have traditionally borne themselves.

“The Catholic Church is one of the wealthiest religious institutions in the world,” Gaylor notes. “Taxpayers should not be expected to underwrite operating costs for church-run schools while public schools continue struggling to meet basic educational needs.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation urges Gov. Ron DeSantis to veto the appropriation and reject yet another attempt to funnel public money into religious education.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with about 41,000 members and several chapters nationwide, including more than 2,000 members and a chapter in Florida. FFRF’s purposes are to defend the constitutional principle of separation between church and state, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.

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