# 119-hr-8353: FAITH Act

119-hr-8353, FAITH Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Self, Keith [R-TX-3] (R-TX); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-09-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-8353
- As of: 2026-09-21
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-8353
- Congress: 119
- Title: FAITH Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-04-16
- Sponsor: Rep. Self, Keith [R-TX-3] (R-TX)
- Cosponsors: 1
- Policy area: Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-09-21

## Summary

**Bans charging people fees tied to their religious beliefs or membership.** This bill would make it a federal crime to impose or collect any fee, fine, surcharge, penalty, or other financial obligation based on a person’s participation in, membership in, or refusal to participate in any religious theology, denomination, or organization. It also clarifies that religious organizations and educational institutions may still request or receive voluntary contributions from members for internal purposes. - Individuals: Protects people from being charged or denied goods and services because they join, refuse, or participate in a religion. - Penalties for offenders: Creates criminal penalties and fines. Fees of $1,000 or less carry up to 1 year in prison and fees over $1,000 carry up to 3 years in prison. - Denial of services: Knowingly denying goods, services, access, or opportunities for nonpayment of a prohibited fee is a separate crime punishable by up to 1 year in prison. - RICO effect: Adds this new offense to the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act as a predicate offense.

## Cosponsors (1)

- Rep. Fuller, Clay [R-GA-14] (R-GA), 2026-04-28T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- No Fees Based on Religion: benefit, low. This bill would make it a federal crime to knowingly charge or try to collect any fee, fine, surcharge, penalty, or other financial obligation from a person because of their participation in, membership in, or refusal to join any religion. If the amount is $1,000 or less, an offender would face a f…
- Religion-Fee Offense Added to RICO: mixed, low. This bill would add the new religion-fee offense to the list of racketeering crimes under the federal RICO statute. If enacted, violations of the new section could be used as predicate offenses in civil or criminal RICO cases, which can increase enforcement and private litigation options. This chan…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-8827: ASSIMILATION Act
- 119-hr-137: TCJA Permanency Act
- 119-hr-4397: Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act of 2025
- 119-hr-9567: Preserving Our Constitution Act of 2026
- 119-hr-7: No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2025
- 119-hjres-152: Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to ensure that only citizens are eligible to vote in Federal elections.

## Sources
- [119-hr-8353 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/8353)

## Related
- [119-hr-8827: ASSIMILATION Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-8827)
- [119-hr-137: TCJA Permanency Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-137)
- [119-hr-4397: Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4397)
- [119-hr-9567: Preserving Our Constitution Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9567)
- [119-hr-7: No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7)
- [119-hjres-152: Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to ensure that…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hjres-152)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-8353 (as of 2026-09-21).