Yesterday, the U.S. Senate passed a continuing resolution to fund the federal government through December 16. The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to pass it today, and President Joe Biden will likely sign it into law to avert a partial shutdown of the federal government. Government shutdowns can harm nonprofits and the communities they serve by causing delays in nonprofits’ payments from federal agencies and creating disruption in the delivery of federal benefits (e.g., gaps in food assistance if the federal government is unable to process Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits). The Senate passed the continuing resolution by a 72-25 margin. House Republican leaders are opposed to the continuing resolution, so it is likely to pass the House in a party-line vote.

Earlier this year, the Center sent a candidate questionnaire on nonprofit issues to all North Carolina candidates for Congress and the NC General Assembly asking about their personal experience with nonprofits, their priorities if elected, and which nonprofit sector policy issues they would most enthusiastically support. The Center is pleased that more than a quarter of candidates on the ballot this fall have completed the questionnaire. 

It’s important for you to see what the candidates on your ballot say about nonprofits. Here are three things you can do today:

1. Take a few minutes to check out the interactive 100-county map of candidate responses to learn more about the candidates on your ballot. 
2. Share these responses (by sharing the link to the map) with your staff, board, volunteers, and people you serve. 
3. If you see candidates in your county who haven’t responded, reach out and ask them to complete the questionnaire. We’ve made it easy with this template you can customize and send to candidates who haven’t yet replied – find their names and email addresses with the interactive county map. The Center will continue to update responses through Election Day in November.

A special thank you to all the nonprofits that have already reached out to their local candidates. As the National Council of Nonprofits noted in this recent article, your participation has been critical to the success of this project!

Earlier this year, both the NC Senate and NC House of Representatives approved legislation to expand Medicaid coverage to adults with incomes up to 133% of the federal poverty level. Unfortunately, leaders in the two chambers have been unable to agree on final details of the legislation. One way that nonprofits can advocate for legislators to approve Medicaid expansion this year is by putting a human face on the issue.

The Care4Carolina coalition (the Center is a member) is seeking stories about individuals in the health insurance coverage gap – those whose income is too high to qualify for Medicaid unless North Carolina enacts Medicaid expansion but too low to afford health coverage under the Affordable Care Act marketplace. If you or someone who works for, volunteers with, or receives services from your nonprofit is in the health insurance coverage gap and are willing to tell your story to the media, please take a few minutes to share your story with Care4Carolina. Your information will remain confidential until Care4Carolina has talked with you about how you would like to use your story.

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 this year.

To help your nonprofit prepare for this fall’s general election, the Center is offering a webinar for nonprofits on the 2022 election on October 14 from 10-11 a.m. The free webinar will include:

• A quick overview of what’s at stake in the 2022 election and why it matters to nonprofits.
• Answers to common nonprofit questions about election-related activities that nonprofits – and their staff and board members – can and can’t do.
• How to find and share basic information about the 2022 election.
• How to learn more about candidates’ positions on issues that are important to your nonprofit’s work.
• Five nonpartisan ways your nonprofit can help your staff, board, volunteers, and clients be well-informed voters this year.

Register today! Then check out some helpful resources on nonprofits and the 2022 election:

•  Bolder Advocacy’s new Practical Guidance on Nonprofit Voter Assistance in North Carolina provides a good overview of several legal considerations – along with some practical tips – for nonprofits doing voter registration, voter education, and get-out-the-vote work during an election year.
• The Center's tips on ways nonprofits can strengthen their programs and service by empowering voters (while remaining nonpartisan, of course).
• The Center's blog post with five simple ways nonprofits can help their clients overcome obstacles to voting.

This week, the NC Budget & Tax Center published an analysis of the state budget for FY2022-23. Among other things, the report includes:

• An analysis of the $4.1 billion in revenue that was diverted to reserves in the budget and some state needs – such as increases in child care subsidies and pay for child care workers, additional investments in affordable housing, and state tax credits to help fight poverty among working families – that could have been funded instead.
• An explanation of how the state spending in the budget is the lowest in more than 40 years relative to the overall state economy.
• Recommendations for procedural changes that could improve future budgets, such as seeking additional public input – including input from nonprofits – as the budget is being developed, and ensuring that there is adequate funding to continue existing services in the future.

Information and suggestions in the report may be helpful for nonprofits in their legislative advocacy in 2023 and beyond.

Last month, the White House announced a plan to cancel a significant portion of student debt for millions of Americans. The U.S. Department of Education will cancel up to $20,000 of student debt for many Pell grant recipients and up to $10,000 of student debt for many other borrowers. To qualify for this student debt relief, borrowers must have incomes of $125,000 or less per year for individuals or $250,000 per year for married couples. The NC Department of Revenue (DOR) has announced that student loan forgiveness under the debt cancellation plan will be taxable income for the purposes of state income taxes. This means that borrowers will need to pay state income tax on the amount of their student loans that are forgiven. 

This week, a federal court rejected a lawsuit challenging the new student debt cancellation plan because it would force recipients in North Carolina and six other states to face increased state tax burdens. The court issued its order after the U.S. Department of Education clarified that borrowers would be able to opt out of the debt cancellation if they were concerned about state tax implications.

One of the easiest ways nonprofits can help promote elections is by giving your staff paid time off to vote during Early Voting or on Election Day. To help ensure that nonprofits show leadership when it comes to empowering the millions who work daily to create a more equitable society, Nonprofit VOTE, the National Council of Nonprofits, and several other national organizations launched the Nonprofit Staff Vote campaign.

The Center has proudly signed on to the Nonprofit Staff Vote campaign, and we encourage your nonprofit to join also. To model best practices, the Center is sharing its policy (below) allowing staff to take time off to vote or to volunteer as nonpartisan poll workers. Feel free to borrow and adapt this language to fit into your organization’s personnel policies. And let us know if your nonprofit is also giving staff time off to vote in this year’s election.

“Voting and Election Day. The Center encourages all employees who are eligible to vote to participate fully in the electoral process. Any Center employee may take paid time off work on Election Day or during the Early Voting period to vote in any primary, general, or run-off election. Employees should notify their supervisors of the time they plan to take off for voting.

“Center employees also may take up to one day per year of paid time off to volunteer in a nonpartisan role as a poll worker on Election Day or during the Early Voting period. Employees must get prior written approval of their supervisors (which shall not unreasonably be denied) before taking this paid time off. Employees volunteering for political parties or campaigns on Election Day or during the Early Voting period may not be paid for their time engaging in partisan political activities, but they may take annual leave for any time spent volunteering for candidates or political parties.

“Paid time off for voting and nonpartisan election volunteer work is in addition to annual leave, sick leave, and personal leave that employees have accrued. Employees are not required to use annual leave, sick leave, or personal leave when they take paid time off to vote or to volunteer as a nonpartisan poll worker pursuant to this policy.”

Nonprofit employees have a month left to take advantage of the temporary Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) waiver. This temporary waiver makes it possible for many nonprofit workers to receive credit for past periods of repayment that would otherwise not qualify for the PSLF program, thereby reducing or potentially eliminating student loan debt.  

The PSLF program forgives the balance of most federal student loans after ten years working for charitable nonprofits and governments. Many nonprofit workers with student debt may not be aware of the benefits of the PSLF program or realize that the temporary waiver can provide immediate forgiveness for some borrowers. So far, borrowers from North Carolina have been approved for more than $246 million in student loan forgiveness under the waiver.

Here are three things your nonprofit can (and should) do today to help ensure that your eligible employees take advantage of the temporary PSLF wavier:

1. Remind your employees about the temporary PSLF waiver and the October 31 deadline in any upcoming staff meetings or employee communications. Share the U.S. Department of Education’s free resources about the waiver (note that the website has had some delays recently due to the high level of interest in the waiver).
2. Make it easier for your employees to apply for the waiver by ensuring they know your nonprofit’s employer identification number (EIN) and the contact information for the person on your staff to direct PSLF forms and related questions.
3. Encourage your employees to check out The Institute of Student Loan Advisors (TISLA), a nonprofit with free information about PSLF, how you might qualify, and all things student loans.

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.