Answers to Nonprofits’ Questions About New Federal Overtime Rules
At a webinar Tuesday, officials from the Department of Labor dealt with topics like bonuses and how the regulations apply to people who help raise money through raffles, auctions, and special events.
By Rebecca Koenig
Contributor
Fla. Attorney General Tried to Return Trump Foundation Donation
Pam Bondi sought in March to give back a controversial $25,000 contribution from the Donald J. Trump Foundation to a political-action committee she leads after becoming aware it might violate restrictions on election activity by charities, The Florida Times Union writes.
N.Y. Contests Company’s Plan to Buy Nonprofit Nursing Homes
The state attorney general’s office is seeking to block the purchase by a commercial firm that is already under investigation over a transaction that led to another nonprofit health-care facility being turned into luxury apartments, reports The Wall Street Journal.
Amid Board Turmoil, Hershey Trust Puts Top Lawyer on Leave
The $12 billion organization, which is under pressure from Pennsylvania officials to unseat three long-serving board members, is weighing the employment status of its leading in-house lawyer, who authored memos detailing rancor and dysfunction among trustees, The Philadelphia Inquirer and PennLive report.
Abuse Claimants Seek Access to Minn. Diocese’s Charity Assets
The federal judge overseeing the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’s bankruptcy is weighing a call by victims of clergy sexual abuse to include hundreds of millions of dollars from church-affiliated charities among its assets, reports The Wall Street Journal.
How Nonprofits Should Comply With New Federal Overtime Rules
The Department of Labor is offering a free webinar Tuesday to help organizations confused about the new rules, which cover any employee who earns less than about $47,500.
By Rebecca Koenig
Contributor
Maine Green Group Hits Governor Over Missive to Donors
The Natural Resources Council of Maine accused Gov. Paul LePage of harassing its supporters after he sent a letter to scores of donors asking them to “carefully review” their backing of the group, which has fought many of his policy proposals, the Portland Press Herald and Maine Public Broadcasting report.
Sen. Hatch Calls for Closer IRS Watch on Private Museums
Senator Orrin Hatch is asking the Internal Revenue Service to detail its stance on art collectors’ private museums and outline steps it could take to ensure they have “sufficient guidance” to operate within the bounds of tax law, arts newsletter Hyperallergic reports.
Scrutiny Leads Mo. Hospital to Curb Debt-Collection Suits
A nonprofit Missouri medical center that drew media and Congressional attention for suing thousands of low-income patients over unpaid bills has overhauled its financial-aid and collection practices, ProPublica and NPR report.
Survey Finds Pa. Charities Paid Dearly in State Budget Fight
Pennsylvania nonprofits shed hundreds of jobs and lost hundreds of thousands of dollars to interest payments on bridge loans as a result of a budget impasse that blocked the flow of state money for six months last year, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
Aid Charity Swears Off E.U. Money to Protest Migrant Deal
Doctors Without Borders says it will refuse all future funding from the European Union in protest of the bloc’s pact with Turkey to take back migrants landing in the Greek islands, writes The Wall Street Journal.
New Health Networks Championed by Obama Denied Tax Exemption
The Internal Revenue Service turned down a bid for tax-exempt status by an accountable care organization, saying it did not serve an exclusively charitable purpose, creating a major hurdle for the new type of medical network promoted by the administration as part of its health-care reform, The New York Times writes.
Drug Firms Subpoenaed in Review of Ties to Co-Pay Charities
Federal investigators’ demands for documents from Biogen, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, and Gilead Sciences come amid a widening inquiry into the pharmaceutical industry’s relationship with nonprofits that take donations from the companies to help patients pay for medications, Bloomberg reports.
Minn. Sues Telemarketer Over Charity ‘Pledge Reminders’
The state’s attorney general filed suit Wednesday against fundraising firm Associated Community Services, which regulators allege barraged people who had declined to donate to a veterans organizations with follow-up calls and emails seeking payment of supposed pledges, the Star Tribune reports.
Ill. First Lady’s Charity Joins Budget Suit Against Governor
An early-childhood-education nonprofit headed by Diana Rauner, the wife of Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner, has joined a coalition of charities suing her husband and several members of his administration over failure to pay off state human-service contracts, according to Crain’s Chicago Business.
Ex-NBA Player Charged With Embezzling From Africa Charity
A federal indictment unsealed Wednesday accuses Kermit Washington, a forward who played with several teams in the 1970s and ‘80s, of pocketing hundreds of thousands of dollars from a nonprofit he founded to help needy people in Africa, the Associated Press writes.