Government & Regulation
December 31, 2015 at 10:39 am
A key congressman who sits on a committee that oversees the American Red Cross is pressing the group’s CEO for information about how layoffs and other cuts have affected its ability to respond to disasters. In a six-page letter sent Wednesday, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., cited ProPublica’s recent reporting on Red Cross CEO Gail McGovern,…
December 18, 2015 at 9:51 am
Charities and donors have been in limbo, waiting for Congress to decide whether to renew expired tax laws that help funnel more to charity. In a midnight deal, House Republicans have put together a spending and tax law package that includes making many items on the charities’ wish lists permanent–and retroactive to Jan. 1, 2015.…
December 10, 2015 at 10:33 am
A group of New York nonprofits wants to see the minimum wage for state social service contract workers increased to $15 an hour. The move, if paid for by the state in contracts with nonprofit service providers, would cost the state about $300 million when fully phased in, according to a Fiscal Policy Institute estimate.…
December 4, 2015 at 10:44 am
The Senate voted Thursday to repeal key provisions of Obamacare and strip federal funding from Planned Parenthood, approving legislation that is sure to be vetoed by President Barack Obama. Senators voted 52-47 to pass the bill. Two moderate Republicans—Susan Collins of Maine and Mark Kirk of Illinois—joined Democrats in opposing the bill. Sen. Bernie Sanders,…
December 1, 2015 at 9:48 am
The Texas health and human services commissioner said the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Dallas is ignoring a directive to relocate Syrians somewhere other than Texas. The state wanted assurances Monday from the agency that it will not accept Syrian refugees and threatened legal action if Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s orders are defied. The IRC,…
November 30, 2015 at 11:32 am
Even as the authorities say they remain uncertain what precisely led a gunman to attack a Planned Parenthood facility in Colorado Springs on Friday, a comment attributed to the suspect by a senior law enforcement official—“no more baby parts”—fed directly into an already high-pitched controversy over Planned Parenthood and its practices. The phrase was an…
November 24, 2015 at 10:08 am
Three Utah nonprofits are challenging a state law that forces organizations to report donors who give more than $750 to influence campaigns or voters. In a lawsuit filed in federal court this week, the groups said the law unconstitutionally forces them to forgo their free speech rights to speak on political issues, or risk losing…
November 24, 2015 at 9:55 am
A new voluntary gift-substantiation regime proposed by the IRS is being opposed by the National Council of Nonprofits (NCN), as well as a number of individual state associations of nonprofits. The system would provide an alternative to the “contemporaneous written acknowledgements” now in use by providing 501(c)(3) nonprofits with the option to report gifts more…
November 23, 2015 at 9:45 am
As of 4 p.m. Friday, several Houston organizations complied with Gov. Greg Abbott's deadline order to stop providing help to Syrian refugees. It comes in response to the deadly terror attacks in Paris on Nov. 13. A letter from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission went out to several local nonprofits last week asking…
November 20, 2015 at 10:24 am
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has closed down the Veterans Support Organization (VSO) as a settlement from legal action. According to a news release from Paxton's office, VSO collected more than $2.5 million in Texas between 2010 and 2012. But an investigation found 70 percent of the money went to VSO's Florida headquarters and to…
