Religious Liberty and Charitable Donation Clarification Act of 2006
Public Law 109-439 · S. 4044 · 109th Congress · began in the Senate
Signed by George W. Bush (R) on Dec 20, 2006 · Finance and Financial Sector
Sponsor: Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT)
Cosponsors (1): Sen. Barack Obama
Passage votes
- HouseVoice vote
- SenateUnanimous consent
Data notes
The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.
Summary
The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.
Religious Liberty and Charitable Donation Clarification Act of 2006 - Amends federal bankruptcy law with respect to calculation of the projected disposable income of an individual with regular income to meet the requirements for court confirmation of a plan for adjustment of the individual's debts.
Removes charitable contributions from the statutory formula used to determine what portion of such contributions is reasonably necessary to be expended for such purposes from a debtor's current monthly income. (Thus allows full deduction of such contributions from current monthly income to arrive at disposable income, consistent with the requirements of the Religious Liberty and Charitable Contribution Protection Act of 1998.)
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
Data notes
A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.
Related bills
The record lists no related bills.
Data notes
Related bills are identified by the Congressional Research Service, the House and the Senate: companion and identical bills, bills with similar text, bills that were folded into this law, and rules that brought it to the floor. A bill that is itself a public law in this site’s data links here; the others link to Congress.gov.
Timeline
From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 16 actions.
- Dec 20, 2006Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 109-439.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Dec 11, 2006FloorFloor · Presented to President.
- Dec 6, 2006FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
- FloorFloor · On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote.
- FloorFloor · DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on S. 4044.
- FloorFloor · Considered under suspension of the rules.
- FloorFloor · Mr. Sensenbrenner moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill.
- Nov 13, 2006CommitteeCommittee · Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
- Nov 9, 2006FloorFloor · Held at the desk.
- FloorFloor · Received in the House.
- Oct 2, 2006FloorFloor · Message on Senate action sent to the House.
- Sep 30, 2006FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent.
- Sep 29, 2006CommitteeCommittee · Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S10658)
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the Senate, read twice.
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in Senate
Data notes
Every action the Library of Congress lists for the bill, from introduction to signing, plus the dated committee hearings. The source lists many steps twice (the chamber’s own entry and the Library of Congress copy, or a presidential and a became-law entry with the same words); those are shown once. Amendments are listed in their own section.
Amendments
No amendments to this bill are on record.
Data notes
Amendments offered to this bill in either chamber, as the Library of Congress records them: each with a status read from its last recorded step: agreed to, rejected, withdrawn, ruled out of order, fell with another amendment, or offered with no vote recorded (most Senate amendments are only ever offered). The wording of each amendment is the source’s. Amendments to amendments and amendments to other bills are not listed.
Official record
The bill’s full text is on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.