Welcome to the Nonprofit Champion, our biweekly public policy newsletter. This email format provides brief digests of the full articles to help readers quickly access information. For more details about a specific item, see the full newsletter posted online Nonprofit Champion | May 6, 2024.

Free Nationwide Nonprofit Webinar

The networks of the National Council of Nonprofits are hosting a special nationwide webinar, OMB Uniform Guidance: What the Updates Mean for Nonprofits, for free on Thursday, May 30 at 3:30 – 4:30 pm Eastern to make sure charitable nonprofits know about the significant improvements to federal grantmaking rules and what the changes mean for their missions.

Officials with the federal Office of Management and Budget, Deidre Harrison and Steven P. Mackey, will provide an overview of the Uniform Guidance, the new revisions, and the implementation timeline. Additional experts from the National Council of Nonprofits and our networks will share real-life examples of improvements for charitable nonprofits.

Top of the News

DOL Overtime Rule Raises Salary Threshold Requirements

On Apr. 23, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published its Overtime Final Rule designed to update and revise overtime protections for millions of workers employed by nonprofits, for-profits, and governments. The final rule is set to start going into effect in three phases beginning in less than two months, all focused on the same provision in federal law: the minimum salary that employers must pay their white-collar employees to exempt them from overtime pay of time and half of wages for hours worked in excess of 40 in any week. Numerous business organizations have announced their plans to challenge the Overtime Final Rule, seeking to block or delay implementation. [Read more]

Why It Matters: Charitable nonprofits should get up to speed on the changes and prepare to make adjustments ahead of the rapidly approaching start dates.

Citizenship Question on the U.S. Census

The House is scheduled this week to vote on the Equal Representation Act, a bill to mandate the inclusion of a citizenship question on the 2030 and subsequent censuses. Numerous groups object to the proposal out of concern that a citizenship question would undermine an accurate census count on which nonprofits, for-profits, and governments all rely. The question would intimidate residents of foreign descent, both documented and undocumented, resulting in flawed data due to large undercounts of entire groups of residents.[Read more]

Why it Matters: Any undercount resulting from the inclusion of a citizenship question will harm individuals and charitable nonprofits, adversely impacting (1) dollars and nonprofit sustainability, (2) data and nonprofit effectiveness, and (3) democracy and the public’s trust in government.

Federal News

House Expands Discriminatory Ban on Nonprofit Earmarks

In reaction to some community funding projects (earmarks) going to a few LBGTQ organizations in fiscal year 2024, House Republicans announced late last month that all charitable nonprofits will be banned from receiving this funding out of the Economic Development Initiative of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The new ban on certain earmarks to nonprofits adds onto a ban imposed last year on direct funding for charitable organizations in the Health and Human Services spending bill. The National Council of Nonprofits and other prominent nonprofit organizations denounced the discriminatory ban against all nonprofits and warned that the ban threatens the public’s health and wellbeing. [Read more]

Federal Fastview

Hearings on DAF Proposed Regulations: Today and tomorrow (May 6 & 7) the Internal Revenue Service and Department of the Treasury are holding public hearings on proposed regulations seeking to clarify the rules governing donor advised funds (DAFs). [Read more]
Ways and Means Tax Teams Announced: With the expiration of the 2017 tax law at the end of next year, the Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee recently announced the creation of 10 “tax teams” to review the performance of the expiring provisions and propose revisions. The Republican-only teams do not focus on charitable nonprofits directly but some will likely address issues important to the work of charitable organizations. [Read more]
Protections for People with Disabilities: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) finalized a rule to protect people with disabilities from experiencing discrimination in “any program or activity receiving funding from HHS” under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. [Read more]
Proposed Student Loan Debt Cancellation Plan – Comment Deadline May 17: Last month, the Biden Administration published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on its latest student debt cancellation plan to cancel accrued interest and automatically forgive certain borrowers under PSLF. Among other things, the plan would cancel up to $20,000 of the borrower’s accrued interest that had grown due to the payment structures. [Read more]
Census Bureau Questions on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity – Comment Deadline May 30: The U.S. Census Bureau is seeking comments on its proposed testing of questions related to sexual orientation and gender identity on the American Community Survey. It is proposing testing questions about assigned sex at birth and current gender identity, as well as sexual orientation, in response to requests from federal agencies tasked enforcing civil rights and equal employment measures. [Read more]

🗳️Voter Engagement

Election Tip

DOJ Protections for the Polls

The U.S. Department of Justice launched its Voting and Elections webpage, an updated “one-stop resource” for voting and elections information for voters and election officials. The resources are a combination of efforts from the Civil Rights Division, Criminal Division, National Security Division, and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices across the country to “ensure all qualified voters have the opportunity to cast their ballots and have their votes counted free of discrimination, intimidation, or criminal activity in the election process.” [Check out the resources]

State & Local News

Addressing the Nonprofit Workforce Shortage Crisis

Data collected in recent years document why, how, and to what extent charitable organizations have been experiencing extensive job vacancies, difficulties recruiting and retaining qualified staff, longer waiting lines for services, and more. Policymakers continue to make strides in addressing the workforce crisis, notably in removing barriers to program and service delivery and promoting quality, affordable child care.

Program and Service Delivery: Pending bills and initiatives seek to address workforce shortages in program and service delivery. These include expanding the workforce by adjusting licensure requirements and streamlining hiring processes, and participating in interstate compacts for social workers and clinical counselors that allow individuals to take their accreditations to new jurisdictions.
Child Care: New and proposed laws would increase child tax credits, exempt child care facilities from property taxes, adjust licensure requirements, and increase subsidies and reimbursement rates to providers.

[Read more]

Election Tip

Legal Threats to Nonprofits and Civil Society

A recent article, “10 Major Legal Threats to U.S. Civil Society,” exposes the increasing legal challenges in the form of restrictive new laws, aggressive enforcement, and political attacks that charitable nonprofits encounter simply for advancing their missions in communities. Challenges include government actions to criminalize the humane acts of providing food and shelter for migrants and homeless people, offering assistance to women seeking health care, and providing bail for incarcerated individuals. Also under attack are diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and trainings provided by charitable nonprofits, free speech rights, and efforts to destroy the law protecting nonprofit nonpartisanship (i.e., the longstanding Johnson Amendment). [Read more]

Read the full newsletter for additional quotes, research, Numbers in the News, and upcoming advocacy events to put the news in greater context and help you frame the debate.

Nonprofit Library

On the child care

‘We can’t exist without child care’: Rural towns use state funding to open local centers, Makenzie Huber, South Dakota Searchlight (reprinted in Route Fifty), Apr. 26, 2024.

On the overtime final rule

Overtime Final Rule, U.S. Department of Labor, announced Apr. 23, 2024 (formal publication on Apr. 26, 2024).
What the New Overtime Rule Means for Workers, Jessica Looman, U.S. Department of Labor blog, Apr. 23, 2024.
NCN Analysis: Evaluating the U.S. Department of Labor's Overtime Final Rule, National Council of Nonprofits, Apr. 23, 2024.
Compliance Tips: Don’t Panic (Yet): What Your Nonprofit Needs to Know About the (Latest) New Final FLSA Overtime Rule, North Carolina Center for Nonprofits, Apr. 25, 2024.

On federal grants reform

OMB Unform Guidance Final Rule: Significant Improvements to Federal Grants Rules for Charitable Nonprofits, National Council of Nonprofits, Apr. 4, 2024.

On fiscal year 2025 federal appropriations

House: Community Project Funding Request Guidance, House Appropriations Committee, April 2024.
Senate: Guidance on Congressional Directed Spending Requests, Senate Appropriations Committee, April 2024.
Nonprofits balk at new GOP spending rule that could cost them $1B, (paywall) Katy O’Donnell, Politico, May 3, 2024.
Nonprofit Leaders Lobby To Get Earmark Ban Lifted, Eric Obernauer, The NonProfit Times, May 3, 2024.
National Council of Nonprofits Statement on Exclusion of Nonprofits from Future Housing and Urban Development Earmarks, National Council of Nonprofits, Apr. 25, 2024.

On state and local fiscal recovery funds

Public Data: State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds, U.S. Department of the Treasury, Apr. 2024.
Blog: State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds: Nonprofit Projects through December 31, 2023, Jessica Mendieta, National Council of Nonprofits, Apr. 22, 2024.

On student loan forgiveness

PSLF Forgiveness by Congressional District, U.S. Department of Education, April 2024. See news release for more information on additional initiatives.

On tax reform

Ways & Means Chairman Smith and Tax Subcommittee Chairman Kelly Announce Tax Teams to Avert 2025 Tax Cliff, news release, Apr. 24, 2024.

Advocacy in Action

Presenting People With Purpose

Data consistently demonstrate that charitable nonprofits provide meaningful impact in their communities. They address immediate and long-term needs of residents. Organizations uplift lives and quality of lives for millions through faith, culture, education, and caring. Plus, very many charitable nonprofits work to improve our environment, overcome discrimination and other barriers to success, and much, much more.

So why don’t policymakers know or acknowledge all of this to be true and prioritize policies that enhance rather than hinder nonprofit impact? One answer is because they don’t know us; they often don’t even see us or know the people motivated by purpose in their communities. The Michigan Nonprofit Association is working to change that through it’s We are 501c3 series of short videos.