Legislative Watch - 3/7/18

In This Issue
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1. Tax Talk
2. Current Bills
3. Johnson Amendment
4. The 2020 Census
5. Make Your Voice Heard

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Tax Talk

House Bill 381 was passed and signed by the Governor February 15th, 2018 and will be in effect 7/1/2018

• House Bill 381- INCOME TAXES – Amends existing law to provide a correct code reference regarding charitable contribution deduction calculations for part-year residents or nonresidents. 

HB 463 would cut Idaho state income taxes by about $200 million, while also matching Idaho’s state tax code to changes made in the recent federal tax-cut bill, offsetting part of that cut.

• News and updates: As of March 2, 2018:
  • “Returned from Senate Passed; to JRA for Enrolling
  • Reported Enrolled; Signed by Speaker; Transmitted to Senate”
  • Sent to Governor's desk for signing

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Keeping up with Current Bills

House Bill 379 - NONPROFIT CORPORATIONS – Amends existing law to provide that only one incorporator of a nonprofit corporation need sign the articles of incorporation when filing with the Secretary of State. PASSED/SIGNED March 1st, 2018

Idaho House Bill 513 would create a sales tax exemption for free/charitable clinics in the state of Idaho.
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• On February 15th, 2018 the bill agenda read: “Read Third Time in Full – PASSED - 42-27-0”.
• Currently, as of February 26th, 2018 this bill was “Read second time; filed for Third Reading”

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The Johnson Amendment

What's New?

• Congressional leaders are now negotiating whether to attach language to the upcoming “must-pass” spending bill that would potentially affect the effectiveness and culture of charitable nonprofits.
  
  
• The possible approach: using the “must-pass” omnibus appropriations bill as the vehicle on which to attach a legislative rider that would politicize 501(c)(3) organizations.

What are Religious Organizations Saying?

• At the National Religious Broadcasters' convention, politicians reiterated their goal of repealing the Johnson Amendment, the longstanding law that protects charitable, religious, and philanthropic organizations from requests from candidates for public office for endorsements and other partisan activities.
  
  
• “Without the Johnson Amendment, churches and pastors could find themselves solicited by political candidates seeking endorsement, and congregants could pressure their leaders to endorse or oppose specific candidates. A repeal of the Johnson Amendment would invite partisanship into our houses of worship, fracturing spaces where integrity and independence allow genuine community to be formed despite differences of political opinion and undermining our reverence for unity before God.”
  
  
• Pastor Lauren McDuffie, writing in “Keeping Our Sacred Spaces Sacred"

What Can You Do?

• Learn how to preserve the Johnson Amendment here​

the idaho nonprofit center's policy statement regarding the johnson amendment

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Learning about the 2020 Census

Facts and Figures

• Total population count every 10 years
• Used for distribution of 700 billion federal dollars to the state
• Idaho 2015: 2.4 billion dollars were distributed to the state programs - Medicaid, SNAP, highway planning construction
• The census helps us understand community needs in the nonprofit world and where money should be allocated

Philanthropy Northwest’s Meredith Higashi, who works in Public Policy and is the Advocacy Senior Manager provided some important and helpful information to tackle the 2020 Census:
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• More about the distribution of federal funds to states on the basis of census statistics and the 2015 data for Idaho.
  
  
• The Census Project: The Census Project is a broad-based network of national, state, and local organizations that supports a fair and accurate 2020 Census and comprehensive American Community Survey (ACS — the modern version of the census “long form”). They have a comprehensive inventory of resources and updates on the census.
  
  
• “Hard to count” 2020 map: areas across the country where there were low census response rates
  • Check out that map here

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How can I Engage?

Several ways to engage on the issue, include:
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• Convening and educating community leaders and other stakeholders, including the media, about the census.
  
  
• Considering ways that organizations and community stakeholders are already connecting to hard-to-count communities and have built strong relationships and trust; then exploring what might be needed to support them in “Get Out the Count” efforts.
  
  
• Working with state, county, tribal, and local government leaders to create and engage in Complete Count Committees (volunteer committees of government and community leaders from different sectors established to increase awareness about the census and promote participation).
  
  
• Advocating to federal, state, and local lawmakers for funding to support census efforts.
  
  
• Connecting to national hubs (e.g., Census Project) that are providing resources to learn more about and engage in census advocacy.
  
  
• The Census Project also has more detailed toolkits for taking action. 

A special thanks to Meredith for providing this resourceful information! Take action NOW, to better our future later.

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Make Your Voice Heard

Meeting with our State Legislators are incredibly important in order to make our voices heard. The National Council of Nonprofits provides step by step instructions on setting up, preparing for, and conducting meetings at home offices of state and federal elected officials. View the video here.

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Reminder – Regional Nonprofit Forums

Join us for a full day mini-conference with attendance to ALL three sessions. Lunch is included in the price.
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• Building your Brand and Marketing Toolbox
  
• Board Engagement and Effective Meetings
  
• Fundraising and Major Gift Hurdles

registration ends tomorrow!

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The Idaho Nonprofit Center represents the interests of our state’s 6,000+ registered charitable nonprofit organizations.

​We are an association of forward-looking nonprofit leaders who come together to share knowledge, solve problems, pursue common interests, and serve the public good.

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