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| home > legislative update > 10.09.08
ACR Legislative Update: September 10, 2008 Update from Capitol Hill: Much of the focus of lawmakers on Capitol Hill continues to be on the upcoming elections and what changes they may bring to Capitol Hill. However, there are several items that Congress must attend to before adjourning the session, including several “must-pass” appropriations measures. On specific items of interest to the charitable community, we understand that staff to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus may be convening a Roundtable this fall to discuss what Congress can do to help charities and foundations be more effective and efficient by modifying existing regulatory burdens and/or existing laws. Rountables are a less formal process that allows Congressional staff to meet with individuals and organizations that have a varied perspective on an issue. The benefit of a roundtable for the staff is the free-flow of conversation. The staff hopes that this Roundtable will, in part, inform them about the ongoing challenges that charities and foundations face. Further, this roundtable will constitute part of the backdrop of a much larger tax reform debate that will begin in earnest next year.. We are working closely with Senate staff and have identified several key foundation executives that can offer their learned experience in trying to comply with the myriad legal and regulatory rules faced by foundations. No date has been set for this roundtable. We will keep you posted. With regard to tax reform, the Chronicle of Philanthropy recently ran a front page article by Suzanne Perry that examines the Congressional interest in looking at some of the larger issues involved in the regulation of foundations and charities. The article focuses on the role that foundations and charities play in society and how best to incentivize certain charitable activities (and, reading between the lines, disincentivize others). Both of these issue we believe will be “in play” beginning next year as tax reform hearings and discussions begin.
New Groups: In preparation for the debate on fundamental tax reform, a new group, called The Philanthropic Collaborative (“The Collaborative”) has formed. This group, which consists of a wide mix of foundation and community leaders, has commissioned an economic study to analyze the economic and social benefits of private and community foundations. The Collaborative contends that the study, which is the first of its kind and will be released later this year, will show the enormous return that the American public receives from foundations in part because of federal tax incentives. For more information on The Collaborative or to become involved in this effort, visit their website at www.philanthropycollaborative.org.
Update from the States: In California, where earlier this year a deal was struck between the authors of AB 624, its sponsors and the Foundation Coalition, we understand that the Senate’s Tri-Caucus (African American, Hispanic and Asian-Pacific) has reached out to smaller foundations in California to inquire how they intend to participate in the deal cut by the Foundation Coalition. While this step was not completely unanticipated, it signifies that efforts to impede philanthropic freedom in California may not be over. As for other states, state legislatures across the country begin to prepare for the November elections, consideration by other state legislatures of California AB 624-like legislation appears, for the moment, to be on the back burner. (For background on California AB624, please click here). However, the Alliance for Charitable Reform is aware of a few states that have taken an interest in California’s efforts and may be well on their way to taking similar action. In Pennsylvania, we understand that a Pittsburgh-area lawmaker has begun dialogues with several large Pennsylvania foundations about their grantmaking practices as well as the make-up of their staff and boards. Given the time constraints posed by the impending adjournment of the Pennsylvania legislature, the Alliance does not anticipate this to be a concern this year; however, it is clearly a situation that bears monitoring as we head into the early part of 2009. For the moment, similar efforts which were feared to gain momentum in states like Florida and New York appear to be on stalled. While the Alliance continues to monitor both states closely, it appears that efforts to advance similar legislation in these states have, for the time-being, taken a back seat to other priorities. As always, we will let you know if and when this changes. As always, please feel free to contact us with any questions you may have. |
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