Public Policy Update 10-12-11

Last week I got the exciting opportunity to travel to Washington D.C. to represent United Way Association of SC in a lobby day organized by the Alliance for Charitable Reform. Non-profit organizations from across the country were called to action to counteract the threat to charitable deductions proposed in the Jobs Act by the President.

Say what? Yes, you have to think about it slowly. In the current tax code anyone who donates to a charity can deduct this from the amount of taxes they owe the government...to an extent. The cap is 35%, meaning that for every $1.00 you donate to charity, you can subtract .35 cents from the amount you owe. Does that track?

Here is a website on that does a great job of spelling this out.

Okay, so in the Jobs Act, there was a proposal to reduce the limit of the cap from 35% to 28%. Which ultimately doesn't sound like a lot, but when crunched with the big numbers, there are big losses. A study done by the Center of Philanthropy in 2009 predicted that this would translate to $3.9 billion less donated per year- including $100 million dollars donated to United Way specifically.  And when 95% of your budget is comprised of private funds...you can see how this could become a problem.

UWASC, Dance USA, YMCA, Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, and many many more were in DC last week. All the participants were divided into groups and charged The Hill to meet with members/staff of the Senate Finance Committee and the "Super Committee". All the members and staff were interested and concerned when we related to them what this proposal would mean. Especially at a time when "The Sector" (as I learned those within the Non-Profit Sector like to refer to themselves) is needed more than ever. We had a long, full day on The Hill- and we left feeling satisfied. Mostly because the Charitable Deduction option was taken out of the Jobs Act the day we were there. Therefore, there is no way to know if that was a result of the descent of "The Sector" on all the Senate office buildings...but we're still going to take credit for it anyway.

But this is just part of the beauty of the type of the government we have. As long as you're informed and motivated-you can actively take a role in the government and the policies it creates, and you don't even have to be elected! There's no promise of a "win" every time, but every time you try you build relationships and credibility so that you can return and try again next time.

United Way Association of South Carolina delights in this type of interaction and is looking forward to being informed and motivated when it comes to the areas of Education, Income and Health.

If you have any questions about this blog or any others. Please feel free to email me at caitlin.carey17@gmail.com.

Thanks for reading!

Caitlin Carey, Public Policy Intern