House Votes to Defund Planned Parenthood; Senate OK Unlikely
Citing controversy over Planned Parenthood’s provision of fetal tissue for medical research, the House of Representatives voted largely along party lines Friday to block federal grants to the women’s health nonprofit for a year, but Senate Democrats have enough votes to block the measure in the upper chamber, the Associated Press reports.
Aid Charities Say They’ve Been Frozen Out of Eastern Ukraine
Separatist authorities in the self-declared, Russian-backed Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic imposed new regulations in July that effectively block Western humanitarian groups from operating in the region, The Washington Post reports.
Congress Should Kill the Social Innovation Fund
Its approach threatens the independence that is so crucial to the nonprofit world’s effectiveness.
By Howard Husock
Contributor
Federal Court Backs Faith Groups on Contraceptive Mandate
The 8th Circuit Court in St. Louis ruled Thursday that the Affordable Care Act’s mandate of birth-control coverage for employees violates nonprofit faith groups’ religious freedom, differing with seven other U.S. appeals courts and setting up a potential Supreme Court clash, the Associated Press and The Washington Post report.
Calif. Regulators Tighten Rules on Nonprofit Politicking
The state’s campaign-finance watchdog office approved new requirements Thursday that effectively outlaw “dark money,” closing a potential loophole in previous legislation and regulatory moves to compel donor disclosure by nonprofits steering money into state races, reports the Los Angeles Times.
Fla. Man Admits $2-Million Theft From Medical Nonprofits
The former executive director of the American Registry of Pathology and treasurer of the International Registry of Pathology faces up to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to diverting payments to the organizations into a personal account, the Associated Press reports.
New IRS Rule Likely to Make Impact Investing Easier
The agency offers guidance to grant makers just days before Kresge announces it will commit 10 percent of assets to social investing.
By Alex Daniels
Senior Editor, Foundations
Despite Job Gains, Little Movement in Poverty Numbers
Rising employment and higher minimum wages enacted in pockets of the country have failed to make much of a dent in the nation’s poverty rate, the Los Angeles Times reports, citing Census Bureau data released Wednesday.
Veterans Charity That Hosted Trump Event Had Lost Nonprofit Status
The leader of Veterans for a Strong America, which hosted an event on Tuesday that featured a foreign-policy speech by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, had lost its nonprofit status in August, the Associated Press reports.
Federal Inquiry Faults Red Cross Oversight, Calls for Audits
A report to be released Wednesday by the U.S. Government Accountability Office calls for “regular, external, independent” evaluations of the American Red Cross’s disaster-relief operations and spending, recommendations echoed in a new House bill, NPR reports.
House Panel Chair Subpoenas Uncut Planned Parenthood Videos
Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz said a federal judge’s order blocking the release of some of the footage secretly filmed by anti-abortion group the Center for Medical Progress would not impede his Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s investigation of Planned Parenthood, the Associated Press reports.
L.A. County Rejects Nonprofit Exemption to Minimum-Wage Hike
County supervisors voted 3-2 Tuesday to approve the final language of legislation to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2021 after turning down proposals to exempt small nonprofits and those that run job-training programs, reports the Los Angeles Times.
La. Tries New Tack in Bid to Block Planned Parenthood Funds
Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration is now citing a 2013 Planned Parenthood settlement with neighboring Texas as a reason to end Medicaid payments to the organization’s two Louisiana clinics, the Associated Press reports.
Fla. Private Eye Charged With Cyberattack on Global Charity
Prosecutors said a private investigator who allegedly tried to infiltrate a New York-based international charity’s computer network said he was doing research to determine if nonprofits were unknowingly funding Middle Eastern charities taken over by jihadist groups, Reuters reports.
City Hall Clash Holds Up Payments to N.Y. Homeless Shelters
Tens of millions of dollars in payments to nonprofits that operate shelters are in limbo amid a dispute between Mayor Bill de Blasio and Comptroller Scott Stringer, who contends the city is placing homeless people in unsafe conditions, reports The New York Times.
Coalition Urges Congress to Extend Charitable Tax Breaks
With several popular provisions set to expire, nonprofits say lawmakers are jeopardizing nonprofit finances and creating confusion among donors.
By Eden Stiffman
Senior Editor