WASHINGTON — Texas Sen. Ted Cruz on Wednesday introduced legislation to repeal part of the sweeping tax overhaul passed by him and other Republicans that imposed a new levy on churches, charities and other nonprofits.

Those traditionally tax-exempt entities have expressed disbelief that the revamp included a 21 percent tax on some of the fringe benefits they provide to their employees.

A growing coalition — particularly in the Christian evangelical community — has been urging Congress to reverse course, with the likes of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano recently telling The Dallas Morning News that the tax hinders their ability to serve those in need.

Now they have backup from Cruz, who faces a tough re-election challenge this year from Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-El Paso.

"My bill would repeal this requirement, and allow these charitable organizations to allocate funds and donations for their intended purpose of helping people, rather than for paying taxes to the federal government," Cruz said in a news release.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz on Wednesday introduced a bill to repeal a new tax on churches, charities and other nonprofits. The levy was included in the $1.5 trillion tax overhaul passed last year by Cruz and other Republicans. (Louis DeLuca / Staff Photographer)

The move, while preliminary, casts a brighter spotlight on a measure that appears to have escaped much notice in the debate over the $1.5 trillion tax revamp passed last year.

That overhaul, which all Democrats opposed, cut taxes for both businesses and individuals. Cruz on Wednesday stressed that point, saying the package is "expanding opportunity and allowing hardworking men and women to keep more of their hard-earned money."

But churches and other nonprofits have been wracked with confusion in recent months over how to deal with the new levy aimed at certain transportation-related employee benefits.

Those perks include passes to ride Dallas Area Rapid Transit or to park in a paid garage. They could also include parking on lots that nonprofits actually own, with a lack of guidance from the Internal Revenue Service exacerbating conflicting viewpoints on that front.

The impact could prove to be narrow; the Baptist General Convention of Texas says it believes the tax "will not apply to most Texas Baptist churches." But tax payments have already started coming due.

"I just look at this and think, 'Who thinks up this stuff?' " Scott Collins, spokesman for Buckner International, a Dallas-based Christian nonprofit that assists seniors and vulnerable children, recently told The News. "Every dime cuts into what we are trying to do."

Texas Rep. Kevin Brady, the House's top tax writer, has defended the provision as a matter of fairness.

The tax overhaul also removed a tax deduction, partly to raise money for lower rates, that for-profit businesses had been able to take on those kinds of employee benefits. So the new tax on nonprofits was a way to produce a similar effect across different types of employers.

"It is about treating a nonprofit hospital the same as you treat a for-profit hospital," Brady, a Republican from The Woodlands, said recently.

But Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Midland, in June introduced a bill to likewise repeal the measure. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Wednesday also said that the issue was "certainly something we're looking into."