A group of New York nonprofits wants to see the minimum wage for state social service contract workers increased to $15 an hour. The move, if paid for by the state in contracts with nonprofit service providers, would cost the state about $300 million when fully phased in, according to a Fiscal Policy Institute estimate.…
The Senate voted Thursday to repeal key provisions of Obamacare and strip federal funding from Planned Parenthood, approving legislation that is sure to be vetoed by President Barack Obama. Senators voted 52-47 to pass the bill. Two moderate Republicans—Susan Collins of Maine and Mark Kirk of Illinois—joined Democrats in opposing the bill. Sen. Bernie Sanders,…
The Texas health and human services commissioner said the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Dallas is ignoring a directive to relocate Syrians somewhere other than Texas. The state wanted assurances Monday from the agency that it will not accept Syrian refugees and threatened legal action if Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s orders are defied. The IRC,…
Even as the authorities say they remain uncertain what precisely led a gunman to attack a Planned Parenthood facility in Colorado Springs on Friday, a comment attributed to the suspect by a senior law enforcement official—“no more baby parts”—fed directly into an already high-pitched controversy over Planned Parenthood and its practices. The phrase was an…
Three Utah nonprofits are challenging a state law that forces organizations to report donors who give more than $750 to influence campaigns or voters. In a lawsuit filed in federal court this week, the groups said the law unconstitutionally forces them to forgo their free speech rights to speak on political issues, or risk losing…
A new voluntary gift-substantiation regime proposed by the IRS is being opposed by the National Council of Nonprofits (NCN), as well as a number of individual state associations of nonprofits. The system would provide an alternative to the “contemporaneous written acknowledgements” now in use by providing 501(c)(3) nonprofits with the option to report gifts more…
As of 4 p.m. Friday, several Houston organizations complied with Gov. Greg Abbott's deadline order to stop providing help to Syrian refugees. It comes in response to the deadly terror attacks in Paris on Nov. 13. A letter from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission went out to several local nonprofits last week asking…
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has closed down the Veterans Support Organization (VSO) as a settlement from legal action. According to a news release from Paxton's office, VSO collected more than $2.5 million in Texas between 2010 and 2012. But an investigation found 70 percent of the money went to VSO's Florida headquarters and to…
In September, a judge ruled that music licensor Warner-Chappell doesn't own the copyright to "Happy Birthday." The question now seems to have become: who does? A charity called the Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI) has stepped forward now to say that if Warner loses the copyright, it should become the rightful owner. Earlier this week,…
A federal judge did not rule Tuesday on the city's motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Friends of the Parks to stop the Lucas Museum project, allowing the preservation group time to respond to the city's effort to end the legal wrangling. The proposal for the museum between Soldier Field and McCormick Place has…
