666
O'Connor, J., concurring
01ar_rpt.html (Internet sources available in Clerk of Court's case file); Wisconsin's exemption lowers revenues by approximately $122 million, see Wisconsin Dept. of Revenue, Division of Research and Analysis, Summary of Tax Exemption Devices 2001, Property Tax (Apr. 25, 2002), http://www.dor. state.wi.us/ra/sum00pro.html ($5.688 billion in exempt religious property; statewide average property tax rate of $21.46 per $1,000 of property); and Louisiana's exemption, looking just at the city of New Orleans, lowers revenues by over $36 million, see Bureau of Governmental Research, Property Tax Exemptions and Assessment Administration in Orleans Parish: Summary and Recommendations 2 (Dec. 1999) ($22.6 million for houses of worship and $14.1 million for religious schools). As for the Federal Government, the tax deduction for charitable contributions reduces federal tax revenues by nearly $25 billion annually, see U. S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Census, Statistical Abstract of the United States 344 (2000) (hereinafter Statistical Abstract), and it is reported that over 60 percent of household charitable contributions go to religious charities, id., at 397. Even the relatively minor exemptions lower federal tax receipts by substantial amounts. The parsonage exemption, for example, lowers revenues by around $500 million. See Diaz, Ramstad Prepares Bill to Retain Tax Break for Clergy's Housing, Star Tribune (Minneapolis-St. Paul), Mar. 30, 2002, p. 4A.
These tax exemptions, which have "much the same effect as [cash grants] . . . of the amount of tax [avoided]," Regan v. Taxation With Representation of Wash., 461 U. S. 540, 544 (1983); see also Rosenberger v. Rector and Visitors of Univ. of Va., 515 U. S. 819, 859-860, esp. n. 4 (1995) (Thomas, J., concurring), are just part of the picture. Federal dollars also reach religiously affiliated organizations through public health programs such as Medicare, 42 U. S. C. §§ 1395- 1395ggg, and Medicaid, § 1396 et seq., through educational programs such as the Pell Grant program, 20 U. S. C. § 1070a, and the G. I. Bill of Rights, 38 U. S. C. §§ 3451, 3698; and
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