The second session of the 116th Congress is now underway, and the ERLC is active with the work of speaking from our Southern Baptist churches into the legislative process. Over the next year the ERLC will continue to work to make progress on core areas of our agenda, such as pro-life and religious liberty legislation. The ERLC will also work to advance targeted pieces of legislation with broad, bipartisan support on the federal level.
Further, the ERLC will continue to advance its agenda through regulatory activity before federal agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services, the State Department, and the Department of Justice. We expect the Trump Administration to continue to issue a number of regulations that uphold human dignity and religious liberty, and we will support those regulatory actions. We will also continue our advocacy before the federal judiciary, including submitting amicus briefs at the Supreme Court on foundational cases to the issues Southern Baptist care about.
The ERLC will also extend its work on the state level in the next year. As opportunities arise, the ERLC engages with state conventions, pastors and leaders, and policy councils on public policy issues. With gridlock in Washington, state-level legislation provides an additional space where the ERLC can work to advance issues that Southern Baptists support. The following agenda lays out the ERLC’s core legislative priorities for the coming year to serve Southern Baptists and all of our neighbors. While this agenda is ambitious and broad, many of these items are long-term initiatives we have engaged for several years. We will continue to advance this work, supported by Southern Baptists, this year.
