During a conference on rural philanthropy in his home state, Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) commented that cracking down on charitable abuses or imposing new regulations on nonprofit groups such as hospitals are not among his main concerns. According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy ($$) he said; "That's not at the top of my list." This may be surprising considering the report that his staff released last year with broad legislative recommendations for the nonprofit sector. During the conference last week Baucus urged foundations to double their grants to rural areas within five years. Baucus helped to set up the conference along with its host, the Council on Foundations. Mr. Baucus also said he favored extending a law that allows people to give money from their individual retirement accounts to charity without paying any taxes, which expires at the end of this year. But he is not sure that expanding the provision to allow more types of groups to accept such gifts and increasing the amount donors can give — ideas advocated by nonprofit and foundation leaders — is politically feasible given Congress's vow to rein in the budget deficit."