This era of mindless, histrionic partisanship at the federal level imposes significant costs on everyone. The excesses of partisanship are taking their toll, from the recent downgrading of the country’s credit rating to threats of another government shutdown, and more. But inflexible intolerance does not have to be the norm – at least when nonprofits are involved.
Today’s lead article discusses progress on fixing government grants and contracts by moving bipartisan legislation out of committee. Neither party has a stake in defending bureaucratic waste and complexity; reasonable people can agree on reducing needless burdens – and they are in the Streamlining Federal Grants Act. So far.
At the recent congressional hearing on abuses by third-party “ERTC mills” and scam artists (discussed above), all of the Representatives and witnesses agreed that bad actors must be stopped. The IRS likewise agrees and is stepping up enforcement.
Lastly, we note that bipartisan support is growing for the Charitable Act (S.566 / H.R.3435), the bill to enable taxpayers who take the standard deduction to also claim charitable deductions of up to $4,600/individual and $9,200/couple. The Senate bill has 16 sponsors, nine Democrats and seven Republicans. The House version now has 22 sponsors, equally divided between the parties.
All of which just goes to show that support for advancing the missions and work of charitable nonprofits is a bipartisan case study.