Although legislation promoting charitable giving has passed both houses of Congress this year, it could still be derailed in conference committee. There are major differences over whether or not to include offsets that pay the cost of tax breaks for charitable giving. Further complications were added last week when Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) proposed attaching the child tax credit provision to the bill that House Republican leaders strongly oppose. The move could either bring the child tax credit issue back to life or bog down the charitable giving legislation.

In late September the Bush administration announced a series of new and proposed regulations that implement its “charitable choice” policies for six agencies. A summary and links are provided below: Final Rules: Effective October 30, 2003 Agency Programs Health and Human Services Community Services Block Grant *Training, Technical Assistancd and Capacity Building Program *Community Food and Nutrition Program *National Youth Sports Porgarm *Discretionary Grants for economic development, rural community development and neighborhod innovation

On September 8 the Supreme Court heard arguments in the case challenging the constitutionality of the new campaign finance law, officially called Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA). The major issues argued were restrictions on “electioneering communications” and soft money contributions to political parties. The arguments illustrated the difficulty in drawing the line between genuine issue ads meant to impact legislation and campaign ads.

On September 17 the House passed legislation with tax breaks for charitable giving. The bill, the Charitable Giving Act of 2003 (H.R. 7), is now headed to a conference committee with the Senate. The Senate passed a similar bill, the CARE Act (Charity Aid Recovery and Empowerment Act, S. 476), last spring. In addition to tax breaks for contributions to charities, H.R. 7 provides money for a Compassion Capital Fund, simplification of lobbying rules for charities, reduction in excise taxes for foundations, and authority for states to transfer money from welfare to social service programs. This article includes a summary of the major provisions of H.R. 7, a look at how it compares to the Senate bill, the controversial issues facing the Conference Committee and the administration's position.