As a reader of these weekly Nonprofit Policy Updates, you are probably aware that the Center takes positions on – and lobbies on – state and federal public policy issues that affect most or all 501(c)(3) nonprofits in North Carolina. Last month, the Center’s Board of Directors approved the 2023 Public Policy Agenda for North Carolina’s Nonprofit Sector’s Nonprofit Sector, which describes the Center’s current positions on state and federal public policy issues affecting nonprofits. Many of the public policy solutions and challenges identified on the Center’s 2023 public policy agenda are included because of your input and the input of other nonprofits.

With the NC General Assembly holding its first organizational meetings next week, the Center will begin talking with legislators about filing bills to help nonprofits operate more effectively in achieving their missions. Before we start these conversations, the Center needs your input so that:

1. We can make the strongest possible case to legislators about the need for these nonprofit policy solutions; 
2. We can prioritize potential legislation that would be of the greatest benefit to nonprofits; and
3. We don’t overlook nonprofit policy solutions that are important to your nonprofit but aren’t (yet) part of the Center’s 2023 public policy agenda.

To help the Center be the strongest possible advocate for policy solutions that could help your nonprofit in 2023, please take five minutes to complete a brief survey about potential 2023 nonprofit sector legislation. Thank you in advance for your input!

Starting next week, the Center will host a series of Nonprofit Policy Conversations around the state to bring together nonprofit leaders and local elected officials (mostly state legislators) to discuss public policy issues that are important to charitable nonprofits and the people and communities they serve. At each of these Nonprofit Policy Conversations, the Center will provide a briefing on trends in the nonprofit sector and potential public policy solutions and challenges for nonprofits in 2023 and beyond. The Nonprofit Policy Conversations also will include discussions about state and federal public policy issues of particular interest to local nonprofits. The Center is working with local partners to host these events in Asheville (January 10), Charlotte (January 17), Winston-Salem (January 20), Burlington (January 30), Wilmington (February 10), Concord (February 24), Fayetteville (TBD), and Raleigh (TBD). Registration is open for the Asheville, Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Burlington, and Wilmington events; we’ll keep you updated as the other dates are finalized.

Last Thursday, President Joe Biden signed into law a $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill (H.R. 2617) to fund the federal government through the remainder of the fiscal year (through September 30). Despite nonprofits’ advocacy, Congress opted not to include several nonprofit sector policy priorities in the bill. Specifically, the omnibus spending bill does not restore the universal charitable deduction and two other incentives for charitable giving that expired at the end of 2021, nor does it retroactively restore the Employee Retention Tax Credit, which had expired after the third quarter of 2021. It also doesn’t reinstate the enhanced child tax credit, which had led to record-low child poverty levels last year and which also expired at the end of 2021.

The omnibus spending bill includes several spending increases that will benefit many nonprofits, including a 30% increase in funding for the Child Care and Development Block Grant, increased funding for the Community Development Block Grant and the Homeless Assistance Grants, and significant new investment in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The bill also spends $15 billion on 7,200 earmarks to local governments and nonprofits around the country. Some of these earmarks are directed to North Carolina nonprofits.

To help your organization better understand the implications of the omnibus spending bill for charitable nonprofits, the National Council of Nonprofits has provided a helpful two-page summary of highlights and lowlights in the bill for nonprofits.

In addition to funding the federal government, the 4,155-page omnibus bill makes a variety of other changes to federal laws. Two of these changes could affect personnel policies for some nonprofits:

1. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which the Senate added to the omnibus bill, requires employers, including nonprofits, with 15 or more employees to provide pregnant workers with reasonable accommodations like additional bathroom breaks or not having to carry heavy objects unless these accommodations would impose undue burdens on the employers. This law takes effect on June 27.
2. The PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act, which was also added to the omnibus bill in the Senate, requires employers, including nonprofits, with 50 or more employees, to provide reasonable break time for employees who are nursing mothers to express milk. It also requires employers with 50 or more employees to provide a place other than a bathroom where employees who are nursing mothers can express milk “that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from coworkers and the public.” The PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act took effect last Thursday when the omnibus bill was signed into law.

If your nonprofit has 15 or more employees, you may need to revise your personnel policies to ensure that you are complying with these new laws. Smaller nonprofits can also include these accommodations for pregnant or nursing employees in their personnel policies even though they are not legally required to do so.

Last week, the Internal Revenue Service issued a notice raising the standard business mileage rate to 65.5 cents per mile for 2023 (up from 62.5 cents per mile for the last six months of 2022). Many nonprofits use this rate when reimbursing their employees for work-related driving. The volunteer mileage rate – the amount that is tax-deductible when your nonprofit's volunteers drive on behalf of your organization – remains at 14 cents per mile and can only be changed by Congress. The Center continues to advocate for Congress to increase the volunteer mileage rate.

Nonprofits that were registered as lobbyist principals in 2022 (and their staff or contractors who were registered as lobbyists) must file their final quarterly reports with the Secretary of State Lobbying Compliance Division by January 24. Lobbyist principals need to use the special fourth quarter expense reports (available online) that include the cumulative total payments to lobbyists for the year. To help you understand the basics of state lobbying laws affecting nonprofits, check out the Center's summary of NC lobbying laws for nonprofits. 

Also, the NC Secretary of State has opened lobbying registration for 2023. Lobbyist principals (i.e. nonprofits that lobby) and lobbyists (i.e. nonprofit employees and contractors who lobby on behalf of nonprofits) must register annually with the Secretary of State. Lobbyists and lobbyist principals must register within a day after they begin lobbying.

The start of the new year is a great time for nonprofit leaders to perform a legal compliance checkup for their organizations!

The Center’s weekly Nonprofit Policy Update (i.e., the email you are reading right now!) provides updates on new and proposed legislation and regulations that might affect your nonprofit’s operations and mission. The Center also recognizes that it is helpful for nonprofits to review the many federal and state laws (some new, some longstanding) that are necessary for your nonprofit to remain compliant. With this in mind, the Center has published its annual Legal Compliance Checklist for North Carolina Nonprofits, a comprehensive summary of laws affecting NC nonprofits’ tax exemption, governance, finances, advocacy, human resources, and fundraising – and how to comply.

This year’s edition includes details on legal issues related to new nonprofit remote meeting laws, health coverage options for nonprofit workers, changes to employment regulations and state grant reporting requirements, and more. Based on reader input, we reformatted this year’s checklist to allow room for nonprofit staff and board members to make notes about additional actions their organizations may need to take on each item.

The Legal Compliance Checklist is included as part of membership in the Center. If your nonprofit is a Center member, all of your staff and board members have access (download it here). The Legal Compliance Checklist is also available for purchase for nonprofits and others that are not Center members (purchase it here). Any 501(c)(3) nonprofit can become a Center member to get free access to the Legal Compliance Checklist and a wide range of other resources and services.

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. Become a member to ensure you continue receiving these updates along with many other valuable benefits.