Diaz Sr. Blurs Church and State Lines

New York state senator Ruben Diaz Sr., a Pentecostal minister and outspoken opponent of marriage equality, is known for injecting his religious views into government business, but a new incident involving campaign vehicles could cost him with the IRS.

According to the New York Daily News, Diaz has been parking campaign vans and trucks in the parking lot of his Christian Community Neighborhood Church, which, per IRS guidelines, could jeopardize the church’s tax-exempt status. If the free parking spots are not reported as in-kind campaign contributions, that also could be a violation of state election law.

“The Internal Revenue Service's regulations state nonprofits, including churches, are ‘absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in or intervening in any political campaign,’” reported the Daily News.

Questions also surround whether Diaz uses the vehicles, which were purchased with campaign cash, for personal and church purposes.

Diaz insisted there was nothing improper about the arrangement to the newspaper.

Diaz is being challenged in the Democratic primary on September 14 by Charlie Ramos, a candidate who supports marriage equality but trails Diaz in fund-raising to date.