April 26, 2021 - 10:45am
The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments today in
. The case challenges the constitutionality of a California law that requires nonprofits operating in the state to provide regulators with a copy of their Internal Revenue Service (IRS) form listing their largest donors.
The Americans for Prosperity Foundation (AFPF), a $19 million nonprofit in the vast political network of billionaire Charles Koch, and its allies argue that the rule infringes on their First Amendment rights and will open donors up to harassment and deter their giving, despite the fact that the information is kept confidential from the public. The case has been consolidated with another challenge to California s law by the Thomas More Law Center, a Christian Right litigation group.
March 8, 2021 - 2:06pm
During a pandemic that has claimed the lives of more than 460,000 Americans and decimated the economy, more than $1 trillion meant for charitable purposes are sitting unused in private foundations and donor-advised funds.
The Initiative to Accelerate Charitable Giving, a new project from Boston College professor Ray Madoff, philanthropist John Arnold s Arnold Ventures, and other individuals and philanthropic organizations, wants to change that and has proposed measures that Congress can take to enhance payout requirements and incentivize more individual giving. Our proposals are designed to facilitate and encourage money getting to people s causes that they care about, Madoff told the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD). What we are opposed to is people being able to claim charitable tax benefits and not give their money to charity.