We Want Your Feedback!

3/1/2017

Here at the Idaho Nonprofit Center we are interested in where you stand on the important issues affecting our sector. With your responses to our survey, our policy committee will be able to make appropriate decisions on the issues that require taking action. Your voice matters! Take the survey here.

If you are unfamiliar with these issues, please click here to visit our website and read our first Legislative Watch issue for 2017. There are great and easy to understand explanations of the impacts of both.

In This Issue

Our Voice is Powerful...

... so why not use it? Support organizations leading in the powerful work of nonprofits - We are stronger together. According to an encouraging article called “Love, Power, and the Nonprofit Sector”, author Vu Le, describes the best ways to fight for our sector and let our voices be heard. Vu mentions:

Engage in advocacy and lobbying - although nonprofits cannot endorse political candidates, they can use 5-20% of their time and resources in advocacy work. Make the most of those opportunities representing the causes we are so passionate about.
Work to collaborate with others - this includes the press, those in journalism, and our communities. The nonprofit sector accomplishes nothing alone, we are in this together.
Fund, fund, fund! Own your power and influence - make the change you are fighting for.
Learn more here.

The Johnson Amendment - Perspectives and Updates

Tax exemption, no private inurement, and tax-deductible contributions are historically what criteria we use to identify 501(c)(3) charitable organizations.
Both the House and Senate have versions of this bill that have been referred to committee. The congressional version H.R. 781 was cosponsored by Rep. Raul Labrador. You can track this legislation here.
- To contact the Honorable Raul Labrador please see his information below
  - United States Congress
    Room 1523, LHOB
    Washington, DC 20515
    Phone: (202) 225 – 6611
  - Meridian Office
    33 East Broadway Avenue, Suite 251
    Meridian, ID 83642
    Phone: (208) 888 - 3188
The Senate version S.264 has been referred to the Senate Finance Committee of which Senator Mike Crapo is a member. Track this version here.
- To contact the Honorable Mike Crapo please see his information below
  - United States Senate
    Room 239, Dirksen Senate Office Building
    Washington, DC 20510
    Phone: (202) 224-6142
  - Boise Office
    251 E. Front St., Suite 205
    Boise ID, 83702
    Phone: (208) 334-1776

Arguments for repeal:

There has been an increase in desire from religious organizations to repeal the Johnson Amendment because “churches should be able to speak freely within their communities”.
In 2011, the ECFA formed the Commission on Accountability and Policy for Religious Organizations in which the Commissioner concluded this: “clergy and other nonprofit leaders should feel free to speak their minds, including speech about specific political candidates, without fear of reprisal from the IRS, provided such speech did not entail expenditures that would not have been made had there been no such speech. The commission also specifically said that the prohibition regarding the use of tax-deductible contributions for political speech should continue.”
What this means: Preachers should be able to tell the congregation who to vote for, but cannot spend any of the church's money to get that candidate elected. This created a fear that tax-deductibility of donations may be affected towards nonprofits.

Arguments for leaving the amendment as is:

This law has played an essential role in maintaining the public’s trust in charitable donations.
Tim Delaney from the National Council of Nonprofits stated, “Nonpartisanship is vital to the work of charitable nonprofits. It enables organizations to address community challenges, and invites the problem-solving skills of all residents, without the distractions of party labels and the caustic partisanship that is bedeviling our country.”
What this means: We must focus on maintaining the trust of the public, incentivise charitable donations, and examine the effects of budget cuts within nonprofits.

You can find more information about the Johnson Amendment here.

Action Matters!

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.

Advocacy via Flight, Skype, and Type

The 100 Years of Giving Fly-In brought in more than 200 nonprofit advocates together on February 16th to support the charitable deduction tax incentive. The individuals who made it to D.C. lobbied, while others showed their support through Skype meetings, telephone calls, and letters of support.

The letters consistently challenged Senators and Representatives to evaluate tax reform proposals based on this question:

“Does a potential tax policy change enhance, or does it undermine, the ability of individuals to secure essential services, to enjoy the programs and activities that enhance their quality of life, and uplift the spirit of faith, innovation, and inspiration in communities across [the state]?”

State Issues Update

Catch the newest podcast of “100 Days for Good” in their special episode called “Johnson Revisited” including a mock debate between Jamie Tucker and resident expert Allison Grayson. They talk through in better context some of the various arguments around the Johnson Amendment repeal and implications for nonprofit organizations. Listen now.

Looking for your Legislator? Find them here.
Keep a close eye 2017 Legislation here.

Keeping Up with the News

“One of the great problems of history is that the concepts of love and power have usually been contrasted as opposites, polar opposites, so that love is identified with a resignation of power, and power with a denial of love. […] What is needed is a realization that power without love is reckless and abusive, and that love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love.”

- MLK

Brooke Damico

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

0 Comments