“It took a lot of faith to get us to this point,” Lieberman said at a press conference moments after the vote. He was accompanied by Santorum, and Sens. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., and Sam Brownback, R-Kan, who had supported the bill.

Lieberman’s comments about faith harbored a touch of irony. The bill was still being referred to, by senators and others, as the “faith-based initiatives” bill, however language that would have demanded equal treatment for faith-based charities was removed from the bill early on as a compromise to ensure passage.

The final version would better be described as a growth package for charitable contributions than as anything related to faith. The bill’s three major provisions, Lieberman emphasized, are a new set of tax incentives for charitable contributions, a $1.6-billion increase in social services block grant funding over two years, and a provision for “individual development accounts,” a type of savings vehicle for low-income Americans.

The bill still contains some “fairness” provisions, which sponsors say would provide $150 million per year to provide technical assistance to small, community, and faith-based charities through the president’s new Faith-Based and Community Initiatives Office.

The White House opposed adding money to the social services block grant program, and the bill’s advocates said they hoped it’s inclusion would not hurt the bill’s chances.