In July, the U.S. House Appropriations Committee approved a funding bill that included an extraneous provision ( rider) that essentially blocks enforcement of the Johnson Amendment against houses of worship and their auxiliary organizations. Certain charitable nonprofits would be able to endorse candidates for public office and divert charitable assets to political campaigns if a rider to a federal funding bill is approved by Congress in the coming weeks. For 60+ years, the Johnson Amendment has prevented 501(c)(3) organizations from engaging in partisan, election-related activities and is seen by most in the nonprofit community as a valuable protection that keeps charitable nonprofits, religious institutions, and foundations focused on their missions rather than responding to outside pressures to divert their time, money, and other resources to engage in partisan electioneering. The broad nonprofit community opposes changes to the Johnson Amendment.

The House of Representatives is expected to consider the appropriations bill this month and other legislation harmful to the Johnson Amendment and nonprofit nonpartisanship is pending in the Senate and House. Now is the time to act. TAKE ACTION: Organizations that have not done so already are encouraged to sign onto the Community Letter in Support of Nonpartisanship and spread the word among your colleague organizations. See if your organization has already signed. If not, sign today. It takes less than five minutes, and will have a huge impact on the future of our sector. Thank you for supporting the nonprofit sector!

 

1) Keep the current standard deduction.

Leading tax reform plans call for reducing tax rates and significantly increasing the standard deduction. While based in recognized policy goals, these changes could result in harmful unintended consequences: reduced individual support for the work of charitable nonprofits in communities.

2) Do not cap itemized deductions.

The experience with recent tax policy experiments in the states demonstrates that giving back to communities is highly responsive to changes in tax incentives. In 2011, Hawai'i capped itemized deductions, including charitable donations, and giving declined by an estimated $50 to $60 million per year until the cap on charitable donations was lifted two years later. Several other states have considered and rejected negative changes to giving incentives because legislatures have reached a common understanding: Communities rely on charitable giving to solve local problems.

3) Support a Non-Itemizer Deduction.

The Committee and Congress can expand the incentive for giving back to communities by making deductions universally available to all Americans through a non-itemizer deduction for charitable contributions. The addition of a non-itemizer deduction would help overcome the significant decrease in charitable giving that most economists predict will otherwise occur as the number of itemizers decreases. Extending the charitable deduction to all taxpayers - regardless of whether they itemize or take the standard deduction - would not only cancel out the negative effects on giving, but it would increase charitable dollars given to strengthen and build communities by $4.8 billion.

 

On Friday, July 28 the Senate voted against the plan to repeal parts of the Affordable Care Act. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the plan would have increased the number of people who are uninsured by 15 million in comparison to the current law. Click here to read more.

The Labor Department has opted not to defend an overtime rule that was scheduled to go into effect on December 1 last year, but that was enjoined by a federal district court in Texas. The Overtime Final Rule promulgated by the Obama Administration would have raised the "white collar" threshold to $47,476 from the current $23,660, under which employees must receive overtime pay. The Labor Department did not defend the higher threshold in a recent court filing, but it did ask the appellate court to "not address the validity of the specific salary level set by the 2016 final rule ($913 per week)," because it "intends to undertake further rulemaking to determine what the salary level should be." The Department also asked the appellate court to both "reverse the judgment of the district court because it was premised on an erroneous legal conclusion, and reaffirm the Department's statutory authority to establish a salary level test" for overtime eligibility using a worker's salary. (h/t Human Services Council)

The Nonprofit Resiliency Committee, a collaborative initiative between the City and the nonprofit sector, developed policies aimed to increase nonprofit cash flow and streamline audits. The new policies are provided below and in more detail on the Nonprofit Resiliency Committee web page.

Advance/Recoupment Policies

The new policies provide at least a 25% advance across all registered human service contracts with recoupment during the last six months of the operating budget. 

Digital Audits

All certified public accountants (CPAs) hired by City agencies, or auditors authorized by City agencies to conduct audits of human service contracts, must collect documents during the audit planning exclusively through the HHS Accelerator Document Vault. 

For instructions on how to upload and share documents via the HHS Accelerator Document Vault, please see the Provider Guide to the Document Vault.

 

Subcontractors and COLA

If you are a subcontractor, you may be eligible to receive the COLA increases provided to the entity that holds the direct contract with the City. If you are not receiving the COLA increase under a current contract, please inquire with the direct contractor.

Revised Human Service and Discretionary Contracts Effective July 1, 2017

The standard and performance-based human service contracts and the discretionary fund contract (under $100,000) were revised to streamline and clarify provisions, align language with other guidance and regulations (e.g., federal, state) and respond to feedback from nonprofit providers. These contracts are for use for agreements with terms starting July 1, 2017 or later.

Introducing PASSPort

The Procurement and Sourcing Solutions Portal ( PASSPort) is New York City's new, user-friendly, online procurement portal which allows business vendors and nonprofit providers to submit disclosure information required for contracting and access performance evaluations. Visit http://nyc.gov/passport for additional information and to register for a vendor briefing.

New York state is facing signs of increasing fiscal challenges, including lower revenue targets and possible federal budget and tax changes, according to a  report  on the state's Enacted Budget Financial Plan issued today by New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.  "The state's fiscal outlook is clouded because of uncertainty in Washington, falling revenues, and fiscal practices that obscure the level of spending," DiNapoli said. "If revenues continue to fall short, projected out-year budget gaps may grow further."  The state faces substantial reductions in federal aid for health care and other programs if proposed changes in Washington occur. Click here to read full analysis.