Building Nonprofit Advocacy Capacity

Feb 8, 2016

Top 400 Taxpayers See Tax Rates Rise, But There’s More to the Story

As Americans were gathering party supplies to greet the New Year, the Internal Revenue Service released their annual report of cumulative tax data reported on the 400 tax r...

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Feb 4, 2016

Chlorine Bleach Plants Needlessly Endanger 63 Million Americans

Chlorine bleach plants across the U.S. put millions of Americans in danger of a chlorine gas release, a substance so toxic it has been used as a chemical weapon. Greenpeace’s new repo...

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Jan 25, 2016

U.S. Industrial Facilities Reported Fewer Toxic Releases in 2014

The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data for 2014 is now available. The good news: total toxic releases by reporting facilities decreased by nearly six percent from 2013 levels. Howe...

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Jan 22, 2016

Methane Causes Climate Change. Here's How the President Plans to Cut Emissions by 40-45 Percent.

UPDATE (Jan. 22, 2016): Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released its proposed rule to reduce methane emissions...

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Nonprofit Leaders Disappointed in Poor Oversight of Federal Grants

Mar 30, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

This article out of Fairbanks Alaska concerns a lack of federal oversight of money nonprofits obtain through earmarks. "Some [who work in nonprofits] add, though, that federal program officers don't, or can't, always watch closely. In addition, if the federal agency isn't involved in selecting the grantee, as occurs with earmarked funds, fundamental problems may escape the agency's notice, they say." A nonprofit in Fairbanks, LOVE Social Services, about $450,000 of a $2.9 million that Sen.

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House Committee Passes GSE Reform Bill

Mar 30, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

Yesterday the House Financial Services Committee passed H.R. 1427, the Federal Housing Reform Act of 2007. The bill will provide additional funding for affordable housing and change the oversight of the government sponsored enterprises (GSE) of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks. Last year efforts were made to greatly restrict the affordable housing trust fund, limiting the groups that could apply based on lobbying and GOTV activities. Fortunately these same attempts were not made this year and the bill passed committee yesterday is absent language of the sort.

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Pension Protection Act And Changes for Exempt Organizations Tax Rules

Mar 23, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

The Internal Revenue Service has posted a web page describing the tax changes for exempt organizations because of the Pension Protection Act of 2006. There is a list of new reporting requirements along with the new forms that must be used. Information is provided on such provisions as donor-advised funds and certain charitable contribution requirements.

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Bill Would Extend IRA Giving Provision

Mar 23, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

Senator Byron Dorgen (D-ND) and Representative Earl Pomeroy (D-ND) have introduced companion legislation, the Public Good IRA Rollover Act (S.819 and HR1419). This would permanently extend a tax break passed as a part of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 that allows older Americans to donate money directly from their Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA). The provision passed last year would expire January 1, 2008. A recent article in Forbes discusses how there is seemingly large support for the measure from the charitable sector.

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Senate Committee Considers Electronic Filing

Mar 15, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

Yesterday the Senate Rules and Administration Committee held a hearing on S.223, the Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act. As reported in BNA Money and Politics ($$), Chairman Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) plans to have the committee approve S.223 "in the coming weeks." The bill would require Senate candidates to file campaign finance reports electronically. Ranking Member Senator Bob Bennett (R-ID) may try to amend the bill, which some say might weaken the bill's chances of passing.

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Changes to the Combined Federal Campaign Charity Drive

Mar 12, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

The Office of Personnel Management, which administers the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) charity drive in government offices, has decided to drop a requirement that charities spend no more than 25 percent of their total revenue on administrative and fund-raising expenses. Charities that exceeded the cap were required to give the OPM a reason, which the agency said was an administrative burden. Senator Charles E. Grassley (R-IA) sent a letter to President Bush expressing his concern about this rule change.

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Rules Hearing To Consider Senate Electronic Filing

Mar 9, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

On March 14, the Senate Rules and Administration Committee will hold a hearing on S.223, the Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act to require Senate candidates to file election reports electronically. Currently House candidates, presidential candidates, party committees, and political action committees are required to do so, while Senate candidates are exempt. BNA Money and Politics ($$) reports that the Federal Election Commission (FEC) is fully in favor of the measure, and FEC Staff Director Patrina Clark is set to testify at the hearing.

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Senate Finance Committee Seeks Information on Nonprofit Abuses

Mar 8, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) and Finance Ranking member Charles Grassley (R-IA) sent letters to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Mark Everson and IRS Chief Counsel Donald Korb asking for "an updated list of the newest, biggest tax avoidance scams — including those using nonprofit groups - that deserve the committee's attention." The Senators are asking that they receive the document by April 1. The letter also referenced the IRS 2007 "Dirty Dozen", a listing of the top tax scams.

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Congressional Philanthropy Caucus

Mar 7, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

The Examiner reports that a new bipartisan House caucus will be formed specifically committed to issues affecting the nonprofit sector. Representative Robin Hayes (R-NC) will co-chair the first Congressional Philanthropy Caucus, and hopefully an identical group will form in the Senate. This announcement coincided with the Council on Foundations' annual "Foundations on the Hill", an event where grantmakers can meet members of Congress. This appears to be an excellent opportunity where the issues impacting the sector can reach Congress. The blog Inside Philanthropy also responded to this news.

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Financial Reporting of Nonprofits

Mar 2, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

Yesterday the IRS released its Report on Exempt Organizations Executive Compensation and the New York Times reported on these findings. About 600 charities and foundations had to file amended tax forms and problems were found in the way nonprofits reported payments to their executives and other employees. One of the reasons for the study that began in 2004 was to pin point excessive compensation to nonprofit executives through audits and questionnaires, ultimately improving tax law reporting of compensation practices of exempt organizations.

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