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Home :  Nonprofit Issues :  Advocacy Blog : 
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Thursday, August 24, 2006

United Way Summary of Charity Provisions of New Pension Law
From United Way:
United Way of America today released a preliminary review of the charity-related provisions in the Pension Reform Act of 2006, signed into law by President Bush on August 17.
To see the review onlineclick here


Posted by Kay Guinane, 01:37:15 PM



Thursday, August 10, 2006

Coburn Examining Earmarks Given to Univerisities
From the Journal of Higher Ed:

Whether earmarks — funds that a member of Congress directs to recipients without the peer-review process that federal agencies use to dole out most research funds — are dangerously and increasingly undermining peer review, or simply a way that legislators can look out for constituents, depends on who’s talking.

The question, however, has been put into greater relief for higher education officials in the wake of a letter from Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) asking 111 institutions to send him information on all of the money they have received from earmarks since 2000, and whether they have considered paying lobbyists to help secure the earmarks.



Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 11:28:28 AM



Monday, August 07, 2006

Detailed Technical Explanation of Charitable Provisions in Pension Bill
The House Joint Committee on Taxation has released a detailed summary of the Pension Bill. The charitable provisions begin on page 263.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 04:24:43 PM



Friday, August 04, 2006

Senate Passes Pension Reform, Sent to President for Signing
From National Journal's Earlybird:

Congress passed major pension legislation designed to assure American workers, including millions of baby boomers nearing the end of their working careers, that the pensions they have been promised will be there when they retire," AP reports. "The Senate, in its last vote before adjourning for a four-week summer break, approved the 900-page bill that compels employers with defined-benefit pension plans to meet their funding obligations and seeks to prevent companies from terminating plans and shifting the financial burden to the taxpayer."

The pension bill contained many charitable incentives and reforms, as detailed in earlier blog postings. Guidestar also has a nice summary.

The AP story can be found here.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 11:00:15 AM



Thursday, August 03, 2006

Slaughter Calls For Investigation Into Foundation
According to BNA:

Rep. Louise Slaughter is calling for an Internal Revenue Service investigation of a private family foundation established by Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt.

She cites a recent Washington Post article that

while Mike Leavitt alone has claimed about $1.2 million in tax write-offs since 2000, the foundation gave away only $49,000 in 2002 and $52,000 the next year, according to tax returns and other documents filed by the foundation.


Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 10:23:25 AM



Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Frist on Pension Bill
Today on the Senate floor, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist called the House-passed pension reform bill (H.R. 4) “must-pass” legislation, claiming the Senate will clear the bill by the end of this week.

Senator Frist said, “It's just this simple: The pensions bill is must-pass. Must-pass!” He added, “The Senate must clear the pensions bill, clean, so the President can sign it this month. We will act, and pensions will get done, without amendment.”

For more, see www.501cstrategies.com.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 04:17:01 PM



Charities React to the Charitable Reforms/Incentives
From BNA:

The big fear had been that all the incentives in H.R. 4 might disappear and there would only be reforms left, United Way Public Policy Director Patrick Lester told BNA July 31.

"We were in danger of seeing most of these charitable provisions be used to offset tax cuts for the business community, rather than coming back to charities in any way." Because the reforms raise revenue, they could have been used for other purposes, but Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) insisted on pumping any gains back into the charitable incentives.



Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 09:37:48 AM



Tuesday, August 01, 2006

IRS Wants Comments on Fines for Nonprofit Tax Shelters
According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy:

The Internal Revenue Service has asked nonprofit groups and others to comment on how the agency should enforce a law Congress passed last month to impose steep fines on charities, churches, and other tax-exempt groups that participate in abusive tax shelters.


Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 02:43:17 PM



Bill With Charitable Provisions To Move To Floor Tomorrow
Majority Leader Bill Frist will file a motion to proceed on the House-passed pension reform bill (H.R. 4) tomorrow, Aug. 2.

As discussed in a previous blog entry, H.R. 4 contains charitable incentives and reforms. For a summary of those provisions, see the Council on Foundations analysis.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 11:02:42 AM




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