Legislation

A coalition of youth charities rallied in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday to protest billions of dollars in proposed federal budget cuts to youth and education programs, including Head Start, Pell Grants, and Community Services Health Block grants.

The Children’s Leadership Council, which unites 57 organizations that provide services to young people, brought together advocates to protest proposed spending cuts that, if approved, would represent the largest loss of federal funding for youth organizations in nearly 50 years.

A new Charities Bill, aimed at consolidating existing areas of charity law, has been put before parliament.

The bill will include law from the Recreational Charities Act 1958, the Charities Act 1993 and the Charities Act 2006.

It brings together existing charity law with the exception of part 3 of the 2006 act, which would make the Charity Commission the lead regulator of public charitable collections but has never been activated.

Rep. Larry Brown, R-Forsyth, the author of proposed legislation that would have made it more difficult for nonprofits to receive state funds, has decided to kill the bill.

"I have had enough calls and talked with various nonprofits that had a big concern with it, and the bill will not be moved forward," Brown said. "The intent was never to hurt any of the nonprofits."

A possible cut in federal block grant funding for the nation’s most at-risk populations has local officials and nonprofit operators bracing for the worst.

For many local nonprofits coping with dwindling donations and funding cuts, the protracted recession has already meant doing more with less.

President Obama has proposed a 7.5% cut to Community Development Block Grant program in his budget proposal for next fiscal year.

New York must close a $4.6-billion gap. The mayor has proposed stopping payments for nearly 17,000 day-care slots for low-income working parents–some of the $515-million that could be lost to human-service groups, said Allison Sesso, deputy executive director of the Human Services Council of New York City, which represents thousands of the city’s nonprofits.

Nonprofit advocates are gearing up to try to head off deep federal budget cuts for the 2011 fiscal year that were adopted over the weekend by the House of Representatives.

The legislation, which would cover spending until the end of Seeptember, would slash a wide range of social programs and completely kill AmeriCorps, other national-service programs, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

President Obama proposed on Monday to sharply limit the value of charitable tax breaks taken by wealthy people.

In his budget proposal for the fiscal 2012 year, he said he wants to limit itemized deductions to 28 percent for taxpayers in the highest brackets. This proposal is similar to an idea Mr. Obama put forward in last year's budget. The new fiscal year begins October 1.

The proposal would eventually reduce the value of itemized deductions for those in the top tax bracket by 30 percent.

President Obama proposed on Monday to sharply limit the value of charitable tax breaks taken by wealthy people.

In his budget proposal for the fiscal 2012 year, he said he wants to limit itemized deductions to 28 percent for taxpayers in the highest brackets. This proposal is similar to an idea Mr. Obama put forward in last year's budget. The new fiscal year begins October 1.

The proposal would eventually reduce the value of itemized deductions for those in the top tax bracket by 30 percent.

The University of Connecticut is fighting in court to prevent the release of lists naming its supporters, arguing they amount to trade secrets that other institutions could use to lure away Huskies fans' dollars and loyalties.

Open-records experts say it's the first time Connecticut's courts will have to decide whether public entities, not just businesses, can invoke a trade-secret exemption to keep information private — even if it was created at public expense.

ALTHOUGH many critics have denounced the tax deal reached in December by Congressional leaders and the Obama administration as tax cuts for the rich, personal wealth advisers who specialize in philanthropy also foresee benefits for charities.

The new law was unexpectedly generous in the area of gift and estate taxes, exempting $5 million a person from taxation. That means that a couple can give or bequeath assets worth up to $10 million tax-free during this year and next, when the law is in place.