Legislative Watch 3/15/17

3/15/2017

In This Issue

Domestic Programs Could be Cut

In February the White House issued a list of potential domestic programs that could be cut including the National Endowment for the Arts and the Americorps program. Read on to learn what that could mean in Idaho:

Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB)

CPB is a private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress in the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967.
CPB is the steward of the federal government’s investment in public broadcasting and the largest single source of funding for public radio, television, and related online and mobile services.
CPB’s mission is to ensure universal access to non-commercial, high-quality content and telecommunications services. It does so by distributing more than 70% of its funding to nearly 1,500 locally owned public radio and television stations.

AmeriCorps

Impact on Idaho: AmeriCorps provides a variety of programs to serve the community and raise awareness for issues around the state. These programs serve to address critical community needs and encourage community service and volunteerism within the younger generations.
Since these programs have assisted in the positive experiences had by many college students, higher education leaders have the power to reach out to corporate partners about replacing in some capacity what may be lost by federal funding.
Learn about the impact and value of these programs here.

National Endowment of the Arts

“The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent federal agency that funds, promotes, and strengthens the creative capacity of our communities by providing all Americans with diverse opportunities for arts participation”

Although the White House has not confirmed the report, there is talk of funding being cut for the National Endowment of the Arts and Humanities.

What this means: This would defund and eliminate the art and humanities agencies, as well as the nonprofit public broadcasting corporation.
Programs monetary impact: The National Endowment of the Arts as well as the National Endowment of the Humanities costs the United States approximately $148 million per year. Public broadcasting receives approximately $445 billion per year in spending. This accounts for less than one tenth of 1 percent of the U.S. annual federal spending. So in turn, the monetary impact of these programs are quite small.
For more information on this issue click here.

Most of the programs intended to be cut by the Trump Administration cost less than $500 million annually. While government spending has gone up to $4 trillion this year. Learn more about these program cuts here.

Legal Services Corporation

Legal Services Administrations provide grants to nonprofits nationwide that provide civil legal aid to those who cannot afford the legal help.
According to Jeanne Sahadi from CNNMoney, more than 150 law firms across the country sent a letter to the White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney urging him not to propose the elimination of federal funding for the Legal Services Corporation.
Legal Services Administrations provide grants to nonprofits nationwide that provide civil legal aid to those who cannot afford the legal help.
Law firms made it known to the White House that without this funding, these nonprofits wouldn’t be able to help the various amounts of individuals they currently serve.
Idaho is one of the 12 states in which funding comes from Legal Aid Services. Idaho Nonprofit Legal Services:
- Idaho Trial Lawyers Association
- Idaho Legal Aid

“The vast majority of low-income people have legal civil needs every year. They range from housing problems (such as wrongful eviction or substandard living conditions) to family disputes over child support and child custody to consumer scams. People also need help filing insurance claims after natural disasters or applying for federal lifeline benefits.” - Jim Sandman, LSC President

Learn more here.

USAID Budget Allocations

According to the Accord Network, the Trump Administration is reducing the budget for the Department of State and USAID by 37%. This would have an immensely large impact on poverty-focused development aid.
World Vision has authored a sign-on letter asking the House and Senate leaders to protect this budget and to take into consideration the immense amount of society this budget helps.
Learn about what World Vision is asking for here.

Currently, nothing official has come from the Trump Administration regarding these cuts, meanwhile the White House issued a list of potential targets in February in an article published in the NY Times.

The Idaho Nonprofit Center will continue to track and report on any changes to these issues in future Legislative Watch newsletters.

Recap on Johnson Amendment

This Amendment prohibits tax-exempt organizations, including nonprofits, foundations, and houses of worship from endorsing, funding, and opposing political candidates.

If you missed updates about this issues click here to get up to date with this issue.

Cap on Charitable Deductions Update

There is a proposal to put a CAP on charitable contributions. This in turn, may adversely impact monetary donations to nonprofit organizations.
Why does it matter? Limitations on charitable deductions and other giving incentives could remove some motivation for donations to charitable nonprofits, and would further reduce the ability of charitable organizations to meet the increasing need for services in their communities.

Keep up to date with this issue here.

Your Voice Matters

In the last Legislative Watch newsletter, the Idaho Nonprofit Center sent out a survey to understand where members stood on important issues affecting the nonprofit sector. Members provided feedback on the repeal of the Johnson Amendment and the Charitable Cap Deduction. Here is where I community stands:

Johnson Amendment:

84% oppose the repeal of the Johnson Amendment
8% support the repeal of the Johnson Amendment
8% neutral on the repeal of the Johnson Amendment

Cap of Charitable Deductions:

83% oppose a cap on charitable deductions
6% support a cap on charitable deductions
11% neutral on cap on charitable deductions

Nonprofit Call to Action

The National Council of Nonprofits has taken a strong stance in support of nonprofit nonpartisanship.

Where they stand: “The National Council of Nonprofits has long held that the public’s overall trust in the sector would diminish and thus limit the effectiveness of the nonprofit community if individual 501(c)(3) organizations came to be regarded as Democratic charities or Republican charities instead of the nonpartisan problem solvers that they are.”

The National Council of Nonprofits has dedicated links within their website to this cause where they explain the status, relevancy, and background of protecting nonprofit nonpartisanship. Find more about that here.

If you missed any of the Legislative Watch issues, get up to date by checking out our website!

Keeping Up with the News

“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”

- Socrates

Brooke Damico

Legislative Watch is written by Brooke Damico, a public policy student at Boise State University.

0 Comments