Following significant efforts by a bipartisan coalition, including the ERLC and Prison Fellowship, President Donald Trump signed national criminal justice reform legislation into law. After that work on the national level, there was a movement to consider similar work on the state level. In 2019, the ERLC submitted a proposal to the Chan Zuckerburg Initiative, who had expressed public interest in this bipartisan issue. The proposal was accepted, and a $90,000 grant was received on March 24, 2020.
From Feb. 1, 2020, until June 30, 2020, the ERLC worked with various Southern Baptist state conventions and pastors and leaders to lay groundwork for state level policy work, especially criminal justice reform based on the Trump administration’s federal legislation. The funds from this grant were used exclusively for the personnel costs of the project for the five months it was active.. Due to COVID restrictions, the project ended prior to completion and the balance of the funds ($59,684.71) was returned to the organization on Feb. 24, 2022.
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