Montana ranks #20 overall out of the 51 U.S. jurisdictions for its friendliness towards faith-based nonprofit organizations. Montana has several laws that facilitate the contributions of faith-based nonprofits, including a lack of any state sales taxes. Additionally, Montana has no charitable registration or audit requirements to solicit funds within the state. Montana, however, has some policies that are burdensome to faith-based nonprofits operating in the state, such as a broad Blaine Amendment and restrictive nondiscrimination laws related to public accommodations that provide no meaningful exemptions for religious organizations.
The Montana Constitution follows in lockstep with the federal constitution’s protections, meeting but not exceeding the required minimum protections of the First Amendment (as currently interpreted by the US Supreme Court).
Montana has enacted a RFRA that protects the religious free exercise of all individuals and entities by requiring government burdens on religious exercise to satisfy strict scrutiny. Since the RFRA is a statute rather than a state constitutional provision, Montana does not receive the highest score for this factor.
Montana’s nondiscrimination laws generally restrict religious freedom for religious organizations that offer public programming and facilities and provide no meaningful religious accommodations or exemptions.
Montana law prohibits the government from interfering with or otherwise limiting, modifying, or abridging a person's physical attendance at a religious service or the operation of a religious organization.
The Montana Constitution contains a Blaine Amendment that broadly restricts faith-based organizations’ freedom to participate in public benefit programs on the same terms as similarly situated secular institutions. Current U.S. Supreme Court precedent has rendered this language ineffective in many cases, but it could become effective in the future if Court precedent changes.
Montana nonprofit corporation law includes a provision that defers to ecclesiastical law or religious doctrine in the event that the religious law or doctrine conflicts with the nonprofit corporation law to the extent required by the Constitution of the United States or the Montana constitution.
Montana law permits a director to rely on guidance from religious figures within his or her faith tradition in the fulfillment of the director’s fiduciary duties.
Montana imposes a corporate income tax but offers an exemption to organizations organized and operated exclusively for exempt purposes only upon application.
Montana imposes property tax and provides only fragmented property tax exemptions that include only a narrow subset of religious organizations or that apply only to a narrow category of religious and/or charitable property uses.
