With the results of Tuesday’s elections dominating news coverage and social media this week, you may be wondering what the election results mean for North Carolina nonprofits. To help answer your questions, the Center is offering a webinar on the implications of the 2022 election for North Carolina nonprofits next Friday, November 18 at 10 a.m. This webinar will begin with a brief overview of trends in North Carolina’s nonprofit sector and current challenges facing nonprofit organizations. It will also include a discussion of the impact of the 2022 election on nonprofits, of state and federal policy solutions that might help nonprofits and the communities they serve, and of potential legislative challenges for nonprofits in 2023 and beyond. Register today!

As a result of this week’s election, North Carolina will have a new U.S. Senator and five new faces among our 14 U.S. House representatives next year. The 2023 NC General Assembly will include 11 new Senators (out of 50 total) and 28 new House members (out of 120 total). Many of our newly-elected leaders have experience working for, and volunteering with, charitable nonprofits. As the Center advocates for state and policy solutions that help nonprofits operate more effectively next year, it is extremely helpful to know who in our network has connections with our federal and state elected officials. Please take a moment to drop us a line to let us know which newly-elected members of Congress or the NC General Assembly you know personally.

As a regular reader of our Nonprofit Policy Updates, you are likely aware that the Center advocates on a wide range of state and federal public policy issues that affect all or most 501(c)(3) nonprofits operating in North Carolina. Many of the issues on the Center’s 2022 public policy agenda are included because of the input from your organization and other nonprofits around the state. Right now, the Center is in the process of developing its policy agenda for 2023. Let us know if there are any nonprofit sector issues that are important for your organization that we should consider adding to (or keeping in) our policy agenda for 2023. 

Next week, nonprofit advocates in Washington will be making the case to Congress to restore and expand the charitable deduction for non-itemizers in year-end tax legislation. To help make the case, the Charitable Giving Coalition is encouraging nonprofits to sign onto a letter urging Congress to restore and expand the universal charitable deduction. The Center signed onto the letter this week. You can help demonstrate the broad support for enhanced tax incentives for charitable giving by adding your nonprofit’s name to the letter. The deadline for signing onto the letter is next Monday, November 14 at 5 p.m. 

Last month, the IRS announced disaster tax relief for individuals, businesses, and nonprofits throughout North Carolina that were affected by Hurricane Ian earlier this fall. Among other things, this disaster tax relief means that nonprofits with Form 990 filings due after September 28, 2022 – including nonprofits with Form 990 filing deadlines of November 15, 2022 – have until February 15, 2023 to file with the IRS. 

Legislative leaders indicated this week that they do not plan to hold voting sessions when the NC General Assembly meets next week and in December. That means that the NC General Assembly won’t pass any new legislation – including approving Medicaid expansion for North Carolina – until the 2023 legislative session begins in January. Many nonprofit advocates had hoped that legislators would vote next month to approve Medicaid expansion, which would provide health coverage for adults with incomes up to 133% of the federal poverty level.

Both the House and Senate overwhelmingly approved of legislation to enact Medicaid expansion earlier this year, but they have not been able to come to agreement on details about other health care provisions that could be included in the bill. Most notably, Senate leaders want any major health care legislation to include changes to the state’s Certificate of Need (CON) laws that limit the ability of health care providers to be able to offer a variety of health-related services. Hospitals and health systems – many of which are 501(c)(3) nonprofits – have been concerned about the CON changes since these could significantly reduce their revenue, potentially causing some hospitals to close. 

As we explained in a Care4Carolina blog post this summer, the Center strongly supports Medicaid expansion because it would support the work of charitable nonprofits in three ways:

1. Complementing the work of many nonprofits that provide services to North Carolinians who don’t currently have adequate health coverage;
2. Providing health coverage for some employees of nonprofits that don’t offer group health plans and whose salaries leave them in the health care coverage gap; and 
3. Providing payment for some types of Medicaid-eligible services that nonprofits currently provide to clients for free.

The Center continues to work with our partners to advocate for legislators to come to an agreement and pass Medicaid expansion as soon as possible. We will let you know when there is a need for your nonprofit to take action.

A new law that took effect on December 1, 2017 changed the way that businesses and nonprofits register their assumed business names (sometimes known as “doing business as” or “DBA” names) in North Carolina. As a result of this law, any assumed business names that were registered prior to December 1, 2017 will automatically expire on December 1, 2022.

If your nonprofit operates under a name other than the name listed in your articles of incorporation AND you haven’t updated your assumed business name registration with your county register of deeds, you need to re-file before December 1 to avoid losing your assumed business name. Nonprofits that operate with assumed business names in multiple counties only need to file with the register of deeds in one county. For more information, including assumed business name filing forms and a searchable statewide database of assumed business names (in case you aren’t sure whether your nonprofit has filed for an assumed business name certificate), check out the NC Secretary of State’s resource page.

The Center provides Nonprofit Policy Update each week as a benefit to its nonprofit members. However, to help all North Carolina nonprofits respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, we're temporarily providing this newsletter to non-member nonprofits. Don’t miss out – become a member to ensure you continue receiving these updates along with many other valuable benefits.