Until recently, telephone companies voluntarily charged religious bodies residential telephone rates for local telephone service. Currently, a number of telephone companies are charging religious organizations commercial rates for local telephone services. This greatly increases the financial burden on the religious body, which is providing social and spiritual services to better the community. Churches are not-for-profit organizations, operating on limited member contributions.

Rev. Duane Motley, Executive Director, New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms, argues, "The vast majority of calls that a church makes are to a limited number of parishioners within the local community. It costs the telephone company no more to place a telephone line in a church, than it does to place and maintain a telephone line in a residence."

Since 1934, the New York State Legislature and the courts have seen fit to give religious organizations (churches and other non-profit organizations) preferential treatment on other matters, including residential rates for gas and electricity. For example:

In February 1982, the New York Court of Appeals ruled unanimously that religious bodies were to pay residential gas and electric rates, even if they had a Christian school meeting in their facility that was teaching secular subjects.

Chapter 171 of the laws of 1983 reaffirmed the court’s case.

Chapter 30 of the laws of 1991 established that the utilities would charge religious bodies using three-phase electrical power the residential rates for electricity.

A5028 would provide similar assistance to religious organizations with regard to their telephone bills. The bill is facing opposition from companies such as Frontier Communications, Sprint, Nextel and Verizon.

On March 3, 2009, A5028 cleared the New York State Assembly Corporations, Authorities and Commissions Committee unanimously. The bill is currently awaiting action in the Assembly Ways and Means Committee.

A Senate version has been introduced. Senator Ruben Diaz (D – Bronx), a legislator and Pentecostal minister, is carrying the Senate version, S3105. The bill awaits action in the Senate Energy and Telecommunications Committee.

It is expected that after New York State’s 2009–2010 Budget is approved in early April, that both the Senate and Assembly bills will begin to move in the committee process again.