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Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Red Cross To Undergo Independent Audit
According to the Washington Post, the Red Cross is commissioning an independent audit to identify ways in which it can meet growing demands for assistance, and recommend reforms to the execution of its mission.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 10:56:26 PM

Monday, February 27, 2006

Santorum Charity Had 60% Overhead
From the AP:

Sen. Rick Santorum's charity donated about 40 percent of the $1.25 million it spent during a four-year period - well below Better Business Bureau standards - paying out the rest for overhead, including several hundred thousand dollars to campaign aides on the charity payroll, records show.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 01:33:22 PM

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Senate Names Tax Reconciliation Conferees
The Senate leadership appointed three conferees for the upcoming tax reconciliation conference. Here is the full list of conferees:

In the Senate: Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA); Finance Ranking Member Max Baucus (D-MT); Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) and

In the House: Ways and Means Chairman Bill Thomas (R-CA); Ways and Means Ranking Member Charles Rangel (D-NY); Representative Jim McCrery (R-LA); Representative Dave Camp (R-MI); Representative Pete Stark (D-CA)

The eight conferees will work to reconcile the differences between S. 2020 and H.R. 4297.

Chairman Grassley has indicated that the tax reconciliation conference will begin after the President’s Day recess (Feb. 20-24). Senate and House leaders hope to take final action on the tax reconciliation bill sometime before the St. Patrick’s Day recess (March 20-24).

Last week, the Senate agreed to a manager’s amendment that made a couple of small changes to the charitable incentive provisions included in S. 2020. On the non-itemizer deduction provision, the amendment clarified that the floor of $210 ($420 for joint filers) would last only two years for both itemizers and non-itemizers. On the IRA charitable rollover, the bill will now allow taxpayers to transfer assets from IRAs to split-interest trusts beginning at age 59 ½.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 10:25:02 PM

Monday, February 13, 2006

LA Times Article Detailing Abramoff's Misuse of Charities
LA Times article on Jack Abramoff's misuse of charities. It details how Abramoff misused the charities that he associated with.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 01:12:02 PM

Thursday, February 09, 2006

President's Budget Includes Charitable Incentives
President Bush, in his FY07 budget proposal released on Monday, asked for $7.65 billion over ten years in tax incentives for charitable giving.

The incentives include an IRA charitable rollover proposal.

The President’s IRA rollover proposal would allow people over the age of 65 to donate money from qualifying individual retirement accounts to charity without penalty. This differs from the IRA rollover provision included in S. 2020 — a person must be age 70 ½ to take advantage of the Senate-passed provision.

As for charitable reform, the President’s budget calls for the imposition of penalties on charities that fail to enforce conservation easements. There are no other charitable reform provisions affecting foundations in the FY07 budget.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 04:56:14 PM

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

Two More Hearing Scheduled For Lobby Reform
Two more hearings scheduled on various aspects of lobby reform. We can be guaranteed they won't be the last, though.

Senate Indian Affairs Chairman John McCain (R-AZ) has scheduled a hearing for Feb. 8 to look at closing a loophole under the Federal Election Campaign Act that places no aggregate limit on the contributions an Indian tribe can make in an election year. Click here for details.

Senate Rules Chairman Trent Lott (R-MS)is holding a hearing on Feb. 8 that is a forum to look at adding greater transparency to the legislative process. Click here for more information.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 11:34:24 AM

Monday, February 06, 2006

Finance Cmte Investigates Trustee Salary
The Chronicle of Philathropy reports that the Senate Finance Committee is questioning whether the trustees of a group of 12 Oklahoma charitable trusts worth $1.6-billion deserve to be paid more than $5-million a year.

According to the Chronicle:

Sen. Charles Grassley, the Iowa Republican who chairs the committee, raised questions about the reimbursement of Ms. Bell — who is paid at least $1.4-million annually to act as trustee — and the Bank of Oklahoma, which receives at least $3.9-million to act as the other trustee, according to the most recent tax returns filed by the trusts. Many of the questions focus on how trustees' fees were set, and the justification for paying them that much.

(subscription required)

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 10:54:33 AM

Thursday, February 02, 2006

Aspen Institute Study on Impact of 2006 Approps on Nonprofits
Aspen Institute just released their most recent report on how nonprofits are impacted by the 2006 Appropriations.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 04:02:00 PM

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Is the Clerk's Office Ready For More Disclosure?
Will the House Clerk's office implode on Feb. 14? According to an article in Roll Call, the new electronic filing rule is making for some delay.

Organizations and firms getting ready to file their Feb. 14 Lobby Disclosure Act forms might want to factor in some time for delays. According to the article, lobbyists that have attempted to file early say the process is nothing short of painful.

Karen Blitz, office director with Davidson & Co. for 18 years, said she not only had to download new software, she also had to get a new Internet browser and obtain a digital-signature guarantee a month ago, just to file the firm’s forms.
“What normally takes me three hours, to do the entire company’s lobbying reports, took me over three days with my ... IT guy — and that doesn’t even count getting the electronic signature, which I did a month ago,” Blitz said.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 10:52:48 AM

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