Philanthropy
Senate Finance Committee Subcommittee to Hold Hearing on Tax-Exempt Nonprofits and Politics
Congressional interest in sector’s activities seems to be increasing.
U.S. Capitol Building. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.
Senate Finance Committee Subcommittee to Hold Hearing on Tax-Exempt Nonprofits and Politics
Michael E. Hartmann
Congressional interest in sector’s activities seems to be increasing.
The U.S. Senate Committee on Finance’s Subcommittee on Taxation and IRS Oversight has announced that it has scheduled a hearing on Wednesday, May 4, at 2 p.m. Eastern time to examine “Laws and Enforcement Governing the Political Activities of Tax Exempt Entities.”
The subcommittee is chaired by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, Democrat of Rhode Island, and its ranking member is Sen. John Thune, Republican of South Dakota.
The hearing’s scheduled witnesses are: University of California, Berkeley law professor and former Federal Election Commission (FEC) chair Ann Ravel; University of Pittsburgh law professor and former Internal Revenue Service attorney Philip Hackney, who has called for eliminating tax-exempt status for private foundations; Capital University law professor and former FEC chair Brad Smith, founder of the Institute for Free Speech and a Bradley Prize recipient; and Capital Research Center president Scott Walter.
Congressional interest in nonprofit goings-on seems to be increasing. Last month, the full Senate Finance Committee held a hearing, “Examining Charitable Giving and Trends in the Nonprofit Sector,” most of which focused on the expanding the individual charitable deduction for charitable giving.
The next Congressional session may feature more-aggressive examination of nonprofitdom. There’s certainly a lot to talk about and consider in these and related subject areas.
