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 | July 1, 2024.

Make Your New (Half-) Year's Resolution

To Secure Your Share of Remaining ARPA Dollars

Today, July 1, marks the six-month countdown for availability of State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds under the American Rescue Plan Act. State, local, and Tribal governments must obligate via written agreements an estimated $89 billion dollars in remaining funds by December 31, 2024, or they must send the money back to the federal government. Charitable nonprofits are eligible for these funds, but they are not entitled to automatically receive them; you have to ask.

Resolve to learn more, connect with your state and local officials, and secure these once-in-a-lifetime resources.

[Learn more]

Top of the News

Overtime Final Rule Goes Into Effect Today, Except for Texas State Employees

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Overtime Final Rule starts phasing in today, July 1, unless federal courts intervene at the last minute. In this initial step, the Rule requires employers to pay “white collar” employees salaries of at least $844 per week ($43,888/year) in order for the employees to remain exempt from receiving overtime pay for working more than 40 hours in a week. Several groups have filed suits to block the Rule on the grounds that it exceeds the authority of the Department of Labor. Only one case has received a ruling. Last week, a federal judge in Texas issued a preliminary injunction halting the Rule from going into effect, but the injunction only applies to the State of Texas as an employer, not to any private sector employers, including charitable nonprofits.

Why It Matters: The fact that one judge issued a very narrow decision blocking the Overtime Final Rule may cause some organizations to assume they do not need to comply with the Rule that is now in effect. They do so at their peril: nonprofits should be acting now to implement changes to ensure compliance.

[Read more]

Charitable Giving Declines (Again)

The latest data from Giving USA on charitable giving in 2023 show that all four sources of giving – individuals, foundations, bequests, and corporations – remained flat or declined when adjusted for inflation. Overall charitable giving dropped 2.1% in 2023. This follows the abysmal giving declines of 13.4% in individual giving in 2022. The new data also show that giving to religious organizations declined by 1.0% in 2023 when the data are adjusted for inflation.

Why It Matters: The continued decline of charitable giving should be a wake up call to the public and to policy makers who rely on charitable nonprofits to address challenges in communities.

[Read more]

Federal News

House Appropriations Bills Coming Fast and Furious

The House of Representatives has made rapid progress in moving some appropriations bills, passing three major spending bills and completing committee markups on several more in preparation for floor action after the July 4 recess. Speed in advancing those bills, however, does not indicate likelihood of provisions becoming law, because the House appropriations bills contain significant spending cuts and poison-pill policy proposals that likely will be rejected in the Senate and by the President. Congress will need to enact a short-term Continuing Resolution before October 1 to fund the government until after the November elections

[Read more]

Federal Fastview

Student Loan Relief Blocked: Judges in Kansas and Missouri issued separate injunctions last week preventing the federal government from fully implementing and forgiving any more loans through the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) program while they consider lawsuits to end the administration’s plan, although on Sunday the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals blocked the ruling in Kansas. [Read more]
UPDATE: Employee Retention Tax Credit Claims: Last month, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced that it plans to deny “tens of thousands of improper high-risk Employee Retention Credit claims” on the grounds that they are likely to be ineligible. For employers that have filed ERTC claims, the IRS acknowledged that the processing time will be lengthy, but made clear that filers do not need to take additional action. [Read more]

🗳️Voter Engagement

Election Tip

First Things First: Register Voters

In the latest installment of our series on Nonprofit Nonpartisan Election Tips, Lydia Camarillo, President of the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, discusses the importance of focusing on voter registration as the first step to voter engagement. She also shares how one person who is motivated to vote can help inspire friends, family, and others to turn out, too.

[Watch the video]

State & Local News

New Employment Laws Going into Effect Today (July 1, 2024)

Today is the start of the new fiscal year for many states, signaling the effective date for many recently enacted laws. Some new state laws to be aware of include:

Benefits: Employers in Indiana with more than 50 full-time employees, or their equivalent, must now post a notice outlining veterans’ benefits and services.
Child Care: The Child Care Contribution Law in Vermont requires employers to contribute to funding Vermont’s child care system.
Gender Identity: The Minnesota Human Rights Act (MHRA) prohibits discrimination based on gender identity and amends the definition of sexual orientation.
Hiring Process: In Colorado, employers cannot request information about an applicant’s age during the initial hiring process, unless there is a legal requirement such as a minimum age or safety concern. District of Columbia employers must include a range of salary or hourly wages in their job postings and advertisements and disclose the availability of healthcare benefits prior to the first interview, among other things.
Workplace Violence: California employers are now required to establish, implement, and maintain an effective Workforce Violence Prevention Plan as part of their Injury and Illness Prevention Plans.

[Read more]

American Rescue Plan Act Funds: Approaching Deadline for Nonprofits

State, local, and Tribal governments have only six months left to designate in written agreements how they are going to spend their remaining allotments of State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF). Government officials are actively looking for places to invest their remaining funds in their communities rather than sending the cash back to the federal government. Charitable nonprofits can help those officials by identifying eligible projects. Here are two recent examples of investments in nonprofits:

Arizona: Maricopa County, Arizona, announced that 1.8 million residents have received “life-enhancing services” because of the County’s Nonprofit Assistance Program. The program provided grants of up to $200,000 to 82 nonprofits.
Wisconsin: Outagamie County, Wisconsin, awarded a total of $2.25 million to two local nonprofits as part of the County’s priority to address behavioral and mental health.

[Read more]

Government Grants and Contracts Update

State legislators have prioritized reforming government grants and contracting processes in 2024. While not all efforts produced new laws, the groundwork has been set for next year.

California: Two bills affecting government grants and contracts, one bad and one good, continue to move in California’s Legislature. One measure would require burdensome semiannual performance reports and permit regulatory authorities to require compliance plans, among other things. On the positive side, the appropriate committees will soon be considering bills to improve the state’s Prompt Payments Act.
Vermont: A bill to reform government contracts for services has died for 2024 but advocates are already looking to next year to build on progress they made this year.

[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 accessing state and local fiscal recovery funds

State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Still Available for the Asking. So Ask!, Jessica Mendieta, Advocacy in Action, May 22, 2024.
Accessing State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds, National Council of Nonprofits website.

On charitable giving

CGC Concerned Giving Failed to Keep Pace with Inflation in 2023, Statement of the Charitable Giving Coalition, June 25, 2024.

On diversity, equity, and inclusion

Most Americans approve of DEI, according to Post-Ipsos poll, Taylor Telford, Emmanuel Felton, and Emily Guskin, The Washington Post, June 18, 2024.

On funding elections

States struggle with unreliable federal funding for making sure elections are secure, Jennifer Shutt, Stateline, June 19, 2024.

Advocacy in Action

Images of people from the 2024 Nonprofit Lobby Day.

In Praise of Lobby Days

Participating in nonprofit Lobby Days at your state or the U.S. Capitol offers powerful opportunities to advocate for solutions that address community needs. Likewise, every engagement with elected officials and their staffs is an opportunity to explain your mission and impact, even when making an ask on a legislative proposal.