Federal Job Growth Proposal Helps Nonprofits

President Obama has just announced a new job growth proposal that would help nonprofit organizations.

The overall goal of the plan is to help employers-including nonprofit organizations-hire workers and raise wages. The proposal would give any employer a $5,000 federal tax credit for every net new employee they add in 2010, and reimburse them for any taxes they owe to Social Security because they have a bigger payroll.

The proposal entitled, "Small Business Jobs and Wages Tax Cut", is especially geared toward spurring job creation for small employers, which includes many nonprofit organizations.

While any employer can apply for the credits, the plan-which would be retroactive to January 1, 2010-would impose a $500,000 cap on the total credits earned, so it is most likely to appeal to smaller organizations.

Other highlights of the proposal:

• Businesses and nonprofits will receive a $5,000 tax credit for every net new employee that they employ in 2010. The total amount of the credit for any one firm will be capped at $500,000, to ensure that the majority of the benefit is targeted at small employers. Start –ups will be eligible for half of the tax credit.
  


• Small employers that increase wages or hours for their existing employees will be reimbursed for the Social Security payroll taxes they pay on real increases in their payrolls. This bonus would be based on Social Security payrolls, so it would not apply to wage increases above the current taxable maximum of $106,800.
  


• Firms will be able to claim the credit on a quarterly basis, which gets money out to businesses quickly and provides and early incentive to hire and increase payrolls.
  

For more information please visit the White House announcement.

U.S. Supreme Court's Decision Does Not Impact 501c3 Nonprofit Organizations

The January 21, 2010 U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission concerning the application of certain election laws to corporations does NOT change how other laws limit the election-related activities of charitable nonprofit organizations with tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

On page 50 of the Supreme Court’s majority opinion it reads “Government may not suppress political speech on the basis of the speaker’s corporate identity. No sufficient governmental interest justifies limits on the political speech of nonprofit or for-profit corporations.” This language does not allow 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofits to ignore other federal laws.

Federal law declares that charitable nonprofits and foundations may not "participate in, or intervene in (including publishing or distributing statements), any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for political office at the federal, state, and local levels."

According to the IRS, "All 501(c)(3) organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective office. Contributions to political campaign funds or public statements of position (verbal or written) made on behalf of the organization in favor or in opposition to any candidate for public office clearly violate the prohibition against political campaign activity. Violating this prohibition may result in denial or revocation of tax-exempt status and the imposition of certain excise taxes."

For more information, please review the National Council of Nonprofits analysis.

Important Federal Funding for Nonprofits in the Labor HHS Bill

On December 13, 2009 the Senate passed the conference report of the 2010 appropriations measure that included Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education spending.

The following are programs of importance to nonprofits:

NATIONAL CAPACITY BUILDING INITATIVE

This bill provides $1 million for the first year of the National Capacity Building Initiative. This new program, part of the Serve for America Act which passed last year, will address the capacity needs of nonprofits to handle this volunteer expansion. This initiative, administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service, will authorize federal grants to intermediary nonprofit organizations who raise an equal matching grant from private sources. The grants will cover the cost of organizational development assistance to small and midsize nonprofit organizations.

PROMISE NEIGHBORHOODS

Congress funded the President's budget request of $10 million to create Promise Neighborhoods, a program to support competitive planning grants to nonprofit, community-based organizations to address the comprehensive needs of children in poverty, from birth through college.

CHILD WELFARE

Title IV-B, Subpart I (Child Welfare Services) and Subpart 2 (Promoting Safe and Stable Families)

The appropriations bill provides level funding for the Child Welfare Services program (Title IVB, Subpart l) at $282 million. Promoting Safe and Stable Families (Title IV-B, Subpart 2) is funded at $408 million. This amount is similar to the program's 2009 funding levels. PSSF will be due for reauthorization in the 112th Congress.

Adoption Incentive Payments

The budget allows for $39.5 million for the improved adoption incentive payments to states; the money is available for states to spend until September 30, 2011. The program focuses on adopting older and special-needs children.

Social Services Block Grant

The Social Services Block Grant continues to remain level-funded at $1.7 billion; SSBG funds can support a variety of human service programs.

New Teenage Pregnancy Initiative

President Obama requested the addition of Teen Pregnancy Prevention Discretionary grants, funded at $110 million for FY 2010, and this amount is in the bill. The new grants allow for $75 million of the funds to go to programs that have been proven through rigorous evaluation to delay sexual activity, increase contraceptive use (without increasing sexual activity), or reduce teenage pregnancy. The appropriations bill also sets aside $25 million for research.

Children and Family Services Discretionary Programs

CAPTA state grants and community-based prevention levels are comparable to those of FY 2009. For FY 2010, CAPTA state grants and community-based prevention funds received $26.5 million and $41.6 million, respectively.

Foster Care, Adoption Assistance, and Independent Living Programs

The appropriations measure provides $4.68 billion for the Title IV-E foster care program in FY2010. The amount is expected to support an average of 174,300 children in out-of-home placement per month. The bill includes $2.46 billion for the Title IV-E adoption assistance program. This amount is projected to support an average of 426,400 special-needs children per month. As a fairly new program, the Title IV-E guardianship assistance program increased from $14 million to $49 million for FY 2010. Additionally, there is $3 million in technical assistance for tribes interested in operating their own foster care, adoption, and guardianship assistance programs.

CHILD CARE, EARLY LEARNING, AND EDUCATION

Child Care and Development Fund

The appropriations bill maintains the $2.1 billion in discretionary funds for the Child Care and Development Block Grant and $2.9 billion for the Child Care Entitlement to States in mandatory funds, for a total of $5 billion. Of the discretionary funds, $18.9 million will fund the child care resource and referral and school-aged child care activities; $l million will fund the Child Care Aware toll-free hotline; and $271 million is reserved for quality activities, of which $99.5 million is to be used to improve the quality of infant and toddler care.

Head Start/Early Head Start

The bill increases funds to the Head Start program by $122 million, giving the program a total of $7.2 billion. The increased funding is designed to expand comprehensive early childhood development services for low-income children at risk of poor development and serve at-risk pregnant women.

Early Reading First

Congress eliminated the Early Reading First program that provided grants to school districts and nonprofit agencies to enhance the pre-reading skills of children ages 3-5 in low-income communities.

Even Start

Congress maintained Even Start at $ó6 million, despite the President's proposal to completely eliminate the program in his FY 2010 budget. Even Start programs integrate early education, adult education, and parenting education into family literacy programs.

CHILD SUPPORT

The appropriations language includes $3.6 billion for child support programs under Titles I, IVD, X, XI, XIV, and XVI. There is an additional $1.1 billion for the same programs dedicated to the first quarter of FY 2011. The sum of the amounts available to the states is equivalent to the amount provided to states under Title IV-A in FY 1997.

TEMPORARY ASSISTANCE FOR NEEDY FAMILIES

Congress again level-funded the TANF block grant at $16.5 billion.

COMMUNITY SERVICES BLOCK GRANT

Congress appropriated $546 million to CSBG. The proposed amount is in addition to the $1 billion appropriated to CSBG in ARRA. Entities that receive grants from state agencies can carry over unspent f'unds from one fiscal year to the next.

Grant Will Help Fathers and Children

Reentry Benefiting Families (RBF), an initiative of LANO member Refined By Fire Ministries, Inc., recently received a $25,000 capacity-building grant from the National Fatherhood Initiative (NFI), a Maryland-based advocacy group.

Building on a strong, ongoing collaboration between RBF and the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections (DOC) in fatherhood and parenting programs, the new grant will allow both agencies to increase their fatherhood programming and become better able to receive federal or private philanthropic support.

According to DOC Secretary James M. LeBlanc, children of incarcerated individuals are seven times more likely to enter prison themselves. "Providing parenting skills to the offender population is a crucial part of our reentry efforts,” he explained.

“At a time when 1 in 3 children are growing up apart from their fathers, Reentry Benefiting Families and the Louisiana Department of Corrections should be applauded for their joint efforts to engage incarcerated fathers in the lives of their children," said NFI president, Roland C. Warren.

Refined by Fire Ministries, Inc., is a nonprofit that partners with community organizations and corrections facilities to provide educational services and support programs for the incarcerated, ex-offenders and their families.

For more information, contact Elain Ellerbe, President & CEO, Reentry Benefiting Families, at 225-963-2074 or elainellerbe@bellsouth.net.

All Employers Note: Revised Equal Opportunity Act Poster Released

In November 2009, the new Genetic Information  Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 went into effect.  The act prohibits the use of genetic information (including family medical history or any information related to genetic testing, genetic services, genetic counseling or genetic diseases) for the medical underwriting of health insurance.  With this passage, all employers are now required to post information about this nondiscrimination. 

Take a moment to visit the employee posters that are hung in your organization’s kitchen or break room.  Be sure that the Equal Employment Opportunity Poster is the most up to date edition of this poster by checking to insure that discrimination for genetic information is addressed.  If your Equal Employment Opportunity Poster does not cover genetics, you will want to download and post the newest version, which can be found at: http://www.dol.gov/osbp/sbrefa/poster/matrix.htm.

Supporting Haiti in Their Time of Need

A major earthquake hit the island nation of Haiti on Tuesday, January 12, 2010. 

The Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, home to two million people, is devastated. Medical supplies and potable water are running dangerously low, and the country is in desperate need of our help.

Please consider the outpouring of support the Haitian community showed us after Hurricane Katrina. Despite being the poorest nation in the western hemisphere, the Haitian government and local businesses donated $36,000 toward Katrina relief efforts. Haitian-American volunteers from Florida traveled to Louisiana and Mississippi to aid in the rebuilding effort.

Given the Haitian community's strong support for us in our time of need, we hope you will return their generosity by making a contribution in any amount to one of the many relief organizations now aiding victims of the earthquake. 

Organizations presently engaged in the relief effort and accepting donations include the following: 

• Habitat for Humanity
• The Salvation Army
  
• Catholic Relief Services
• Mercy Corps

LANO Member Meetings for 2010

To provide timely and convenient outreach to its members and nonprofit sector supporters, LANO will hold a series of meetings in major cities statewide in 2010. Each meeting will run approximately three hours and cover topics of importance to LANO members and the nonprofit community at large.

Scheduled dates and locations are listed below. More information about later meetings will be shared as dates grow near.

Mark your calendars!

FIRST SERIES: JANUARY & FEBRUARY 2010

Census 2010 (Nonprofits Count!) and Fiscal Policy for Nonprofits

DESCRIPTION: The 2010 Census impacts all Louisiana residents by affecting the amount of federal funding state programs receive. Louisiana’s thousands of nonprofits provide a unique opportunity for the Census to reach traditionally underrepresented populations. Learn how Nonprofits Count!, the LANO 2010 Census initiative, will help Louisianans receive their fair share.

As the state legislature prepares for the 2010 Regular Session, the nonprofit sector must be a strong voice in the public dialog. Policy issues affecting nonprofits include mid-year budget cuts, line-item appropriations, and large state deficits predicted for coming fiscal years.

In a time of increasing demand and shrinking government services, how can nonprofits ensure that Louisiana’s limited resources are put to best use? LANO President and CEO Ann S. Williamson will join Louisiana Budget Project Director Edward Ashworth and LANO Vice President of Public Policy, Alison Neustrom, Ph.D., to lead the discussion.

Join us and engage with your colleagues as we share significant public and fiscal policy issues that profoundly impact the nonprofit sector.

• Thursday, January 28, 1:00 pm
  The Arts Council of Central Louisiana, 1101 4th St., Suite 201
  Alexandria


• Friday, January 29, 9:00 am
  LANO North, 2924 Knight St., Ste. 406
  Shreveport


• Friday, February 5, 9:00 am
  Louisiana Housing Finance Agency (LHFA), 2415 Quail Dr.
  Baton Rouge


• Wednesday, February 10, 9:00 am
  UPDATE POSTED
  Covington Council Chambers, 222 Kirkland St.
  Covington

LANO Surveys Nonprofits about the Impacts of State Budget Cuts

LANO has launched a survey to find out how the state budget cuts will impact nonprofit services to citizens.

State budget cuts threaten the vital services provided to our citizens by the nonprofit sector. Nonprofits and the citizens they serve depend on adequate funding to support their quality programs.

To find out more about the implications of impending state budget cuts, The Louisiana Association of Nonprofit Organizations (LANO) is conducting a survey of its members to determine how they are affecting the services available to citizens and the financial viability of nonprofits are impacted.

The survey questions focus on how the expected 2010 budget cuts, as well as the mid-year cuts currently being implemented, will impact nonprofit programs, services and populations.

LANO plans to utilize this survey information in partnership with the United Way to convey to policymakers the real and significant detrimental impact of budget reductions. The final report will be available on LANO's website.

We are asking that each nonprofit complete this 10 minute survey by Friday, January 29, 2010, in order to utilize the findings in a timely manner.

Thank you for taking the time to fill out this critical survey!

Super Bowl XLIV Ticket Raffle

Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans received two Super Bowl XLIV tickets from Rita Benson LeBlanc and the New Orleans Saints and will raffle them on behalf of the Archbishop’s Community Appeal (ACA), the annual fundraising campaign to support the work of Catholic Charities.

Raffle tickets are $100 each, with a maximum of 1,000 tickets to be sold. Tickets are available online at http://www.ccano.org/.

Please read the Official Rules & Regulations before making your raffle ticket purchase.

Capital Outlay Funding Update

The Joint Legislative Committee on Capital Outlay has not scheduled a late approval meeting date yet, but state law requires it to meet sometime before February 1st. Therefore there is still a small window of time for your nonprofit to submit a late funding request.

If your organization plans to ask your legislators for an appropriation in HB 1 (General Appropriations Bill), in the Capital Outlay Bill, or if you plan to be included in a state agency's budget proposal in the 2010 Legislative Session, you need to enter a NGO funding request on the state's website. This information must be filed annually, so even if you filed last year with the same information, you must file again.

If you are planning on being included in the Capital Outlay Bill, there are additional steps that you need to take in order to be eligible for funding and more stringent criteria for late submissions.

In addition, please be aware that there could be rules changes associated with Capital Outlay Funding. As part of the 2008 Capital Outlay Reform Legislation, Non-State Entity projects will require a local or other cash and/or in-kind match of not less than 25% of the total project cost unless an exemption is granted by the Commissioner of Administration. The Reform Legislation called for the Division of Administration to promulgate rules regarding this local match requirement. These rules have not yet been approved by the Legislative oversight committees however please take note that these new rules are currently under consideration.

If you have any specific questions about your Capital Outlay application, you can contact LANO's consultant, James Purpera, who specializes in Capital Outlay. He can be reached by calling 225-316-1346 or via email at jpurpera@bellsouth.net.

The Best of Both Bills

LBP and LANO urge important affordability and coverage provisions be added to final health care bill

The Louisiana Association of Nonprofit Organizations (LANO) and its Louisiana Budget Project (LBP) have joined more than 750 nonprofit groups and individuals across the nation in calling on President Barack Obama and Congress to support strong affordability and coverage provisions in final health reform legislation.

[Download letter and list of supporters here]

The letter, submitted in conjunction with Community Catalyst, a national nonprofit advocacy organization and the Louisiana Consumer Health Care Coalition, does not endorse either bill in its entirety. Community Catalyst maintains that, “We need the best parts of both bills to ensure all families can afford health care. The House bill provides stronger affordability protections for low-income families, and the Senate bill is better for moderate-income households.”

Because the House legislation covers five million more people than the Senate bill, the letter urges the President and Congress “to support the coverage provisions in the House bill, so that millions of Americans are not left uninsured after the passage of comprehensive health reform.”

The letter also recognizes that there are elements of both bills that aid lower-income and middle-income families in their abilities to afford health insurance coverage and urges politicians “to take the best elements of both approaches to create legislation that would protect all families from costs they cannot afford.”

“We live in the only industrialized nation where a citizen can be forced into bankruptcy due to medical costs associated with an injury or illness,” said LBP Director Edward Ashworth. “LBP endorses legislation that helps low and middle-income families obtain affordable health care.”

LANO’s Vice President of Public Policy, Alison Neustrom, Ph.D., also signed the letter of support. “Nonprofit organizations in Louisiana have a vested interest in health care reform, both as employers purchasing health insurance for employees and as advocates for the citizens served by nonprofits– many of whom do not have health insurance,” she said. “We urge Congress to pass legislation that makes affordable health care available to all families.”

Contact: Edward Ashworth for more information, 225.907.3035

About LANO and LBP
LANO is a statewide network of nonprofits, foundations, corporations and individuals dedicated to empowering Louisiana’s nonprofit sector. LBP is an initiative of LANO that monitors and reports on state government spending and how it affects low- to moderate-income families.

Eleven Louisiana Nonprofits Receive 2009 LANO Seal of Excellence

Recipients Model Nonprofit Accountability through Voluntary Certification Program

Baton Rouge, LA – Eleven nonprofits throughout the state were awarded the LANO Seal of Excellence for 2009 after successfully completing the Louisiana Standards for Excellence Voluntary Certification Program. These 11 organizations, including nine recertifying and two first-time recipients, join a distinguished group of nearly 60 Louisiana nonprofits currently holding the Seal of Excellence.

LANO congratulates the following exemplary organizations for having met this high mark of accountability:

• Alzheimer’s Services of the Capital Area (Baton Rouge)
• ARCO (Monroe)
• Capital Area United Way (Baton Rouge)
• The Center for Families (Shreveport)
• Children’s Bureau of New Orleans (New Orleans)
• Families Helping Families of Northeast Louisiana (Monroe)
• The Greater Baton Rouge Literacy Coalition (Baton Rouge)
• Lafayette Community Health Care Clinic (Lafayette)
• The Literacy Council of Southwest Louisiana (Lake Charles)
• United Methodist HOPE Ministries, Inc. (Baton Rouge)
• United Way of St. Charles (Luling)

The Louisiana Standards for Excellence program strengthens public trust in nonprofit organizations and improves nonprofit service for community residents. The Standards program promotes fundamental values including honesty, integrity, fairness, respect, trust, responsibility and accountability. The 2009 recipients, located in Baton Rouge, Monroe, Shreveport, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Jefferson and Luling, completed a schedule of mandatory training under peer review and an intensive review of operations before approval by the independent Standards Compliance Committee.

All Seal of Excellence recipients must meet dozens of distinct criteria before receiving the elite credential. Barbara Auten, Executive Director of Alzheimer’s Services of the Capital Area, described the value and experience of certification: "The LANO Standards of Excellence [certification process]…gave me a thorough understanding of how we maintain the 57 standards that hold us to be responsible to our constituents and donors.”

The importance of standards-based certification for nonprofits was highlighted this week by the Louisiana Commission on Streamlining Government, which recommended in its final report that only those non-governmental organizations holding nationally recognized certifications—to include LANO’s Standards for Excellence—should be eligible to receive line-item appropriations in the annual state budget.

About the Louisiana Standards for Excellence
The Louisiana Standards for Excellence offers a voluntary, leadership based accreditation program for nonprofits wishing to demonstrate they abide by a specific ethics and accountability code established for the nonprofit sector. The Louisiana Standards for Excellence covers eight areas of nonprofit operations: mission and program, governing board, conflicts of interest, human resources, financial and legal accountability, openness and disclosure, fundraising and public policy and affairs. For more information about LANO Standards, contact: Jawan Ross, Capacity and Accountability Director, LANO, at 225-929-5266 ext. 206 (office), or jawan@lano.org.

Streamlining Commission Releases Final Recommendations

The Commission on Streamlining Government delivered its finalized initial report to the legislature on January 4.

The report includes 238 recommendations, including one about nonprofits, to be considered by the Legislature and Governor’s Office for addressing the $3 billion state budget deficit projected over the next two fiscal years. The Commission’s recommendations could be implemented through new legislation, administrative rule changes within government departments, or by executive order.

The Commission originally reviewed a proposal to eliminate all line-item appropriations for Non-Governmental Organization (NGOs). This action would forbid direct appropriations for nonprofit organizations in the state budget. It would not affect NGO funding awarded via competitive contracts and RFP processes.

This recommendation (#26: Appropriations to NGO's) was debated and ultimately adopted with significant amendments to the effect that NGOs receiving line-item support must meet standards of accountability, to include existing transparency measures established in Act 842 of the 2008 Regular Session and by executive order; new oversight by the Legislative Auditor and Inspector General, and certification by a nationally-recognized accreditation process. The Louisiana Standards for Excellence, the certification process administered by the Louisiana Association of Nonprofit Organizations (LANO), is cited as one example of suitable accreditation.

Given the intense scrutiny and debate given to NGO funding over the last year, LANO believes this recommendation is worth consideration. Valuable services are provided by nonprofits through the NGO line-item process. Rather than eliminate the entire funding mechanism, these criteria could bring greater integrity and accountability to the process. LANO will be monitoring the progress of this and all other recommendations of the Commission.

Join our policy listserve to receive updates on the progress of the streamlining recommendations, and to find out when you can get involved in advocacy campaigns relative to the recommendations.

** Watch LANO’s training calendar for upcoming advocacy trainings around the state in February and March!