Council Connection: Updates for Council Members

Public policy news and updates for the philanthropic sector

What We're Tracking in DC

House Homeland Security Committee + Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime Probes into NGOs 

This week, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-TN) and Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Accountability Chairman Josh Brecheen (R-OK) sent letters to more than 200 nonprofit organizations. In the letters, the chairmen assert that during the Biden-Harris Administration, the federal government provided billions of dollars to support undocumented immigrants while at the same time seeing their revenues rise significantly and benefitting from crisis at the southern border. Recipients of these letters are instructed to complete a survey by June 24. The Committee has not disclosed a full list of organizations that received letters.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman of the Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism Josh Hawley (R-MO) also sent letters to organizations allegedly funding protests and responses to Trump Administration action in Los Angeles. Chairman Hawley sent letters to the Party for Socialism and Liberation, Union del Barrio, and the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights instructing the organizations to cease and desist further involvement in alleged unlawful activities and preserve documents and records, including donor lists, from November 5, 2024 to the present. 

Additional Updates

  • Several Senate Committees released their pieces of the broader Senate reconciliation package. As of Friday morning, the Senate Finance Committee has yet to release text. We’ll update you when it does.
  • According to Bloomberg, the U.S. Department of the Treasury is considering a rules change that could revoke universities’ tax-exempt status if institutions consider race in student admissions, financial aid, use of facilities, or other programs. While only in the drafting stage, the potential rule demonstrates that the Administration continues its scrutiny of higher education and pursuit of policy changes that threaten tax-exempt status. The rules could be issued in a way that allows Treasury to make these changes without congressional approval.
  • Former U.S. Representative Billy Long (R-MO) was confirmed this week to take the helm of the Internal Revenue Service as commissioner. Long was nominated by President Trump to head the agency in January. 

Happening in the States

State Trendspotting: Governments Grants and Contracting Reforms

Legislatures continue to advance and enact governments grants and contracts proposals impacting charitable nonprofits. A concerning Louisiana bill would require the state to create a searchable public database of “nongovernmental entities” for any organization with state or federal contracts or appropriations. Maryland Governor Moore signed a bill establishing the Nonprofit Organizations Navigator to liaise with and provide technical assistance to nonprofits. A new law in Montana creates an interim committee to identify federal funding opportunities available to state, tribal, and local governments. Finally, companion reform bills in New York (S.7001/A.7616) would add several nonprofit-friendly requirements for state contracts, including interest on late payments, an indirect cost rate of 15% or the nonprofit’s actual indirect cost ratio, whichever is higher, and advance payments in certain circumstances. See the New York Council of Nonprofits’ press release for more information. 

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