Washington Snapshot: Read details of the White House's 2022 funding request, updates from the Hill, and news from the National Council of Nonprofits.
In This Week's Edition of Snapshot...
News from the Council
Another Painful Loss
It has been another difficult week as we grapple with sorrow and anger over the killing of Daunte Wright by a police officer in Brooklyn Center, MN. As Susan Taylor Batten, CEO of ABFE, tweeted on Tuesday:
"Members, friends, and supporters of @ABFE are angry and disheartened over the death of #DaunteWright. Philanthropy must increase and sustain its focus on funding groups that demand justice and the reinvention of broken, racist systems. You can't keep funding what doesn't work!"
Summary: Biden Administration Initial FY2022 Funding Request
On April 9, the White House released its 2022 discretionary funding request to Congress. The so-called “skinny budget” includes only some of their discretionary funding proposals. The Biden administration has said they will release a full FY2022 funding request, which will likely include tax reform proposals and changes to mandatory spending such as Social Security and Medicare, later this year. Below is a brief summary of the initial request released last Friday. In addition, USAToday and the Washington Post have published more in-depth analyses.
The proposal tracks closely with President Biden’s American Jobs Plan, highlighting the four issues the administration seeks to address: the COVID-19 recovery, the ongoing economic crisis, racial inequity, and climate change.
In addition, the Administration has put forward a summary of their funding for the Department of Treasury. The president requested $14.9 billion for the Department, a 10.6 percent increase from 2021. This includes:
- $13.2 billion for the IRS, a 10.4 percent increase from 2021; and an additional $417 million for tax enforcement. This additional funding according to the Administration would enable the IRS to increase oversight and ensure tax compliance.
- $330 million for Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), a 22.2 percent increase from 2021. CDFIs offer loans to small businesses to promote community revitalization projects and affordable housing.
- $191 million for the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FCEN), a 50 percent increase from 2021. This would allow the FCEN to better combat the use of complex corporate structures to shield illegal activity.
The rest of the request includes the first increases to domestic spending in four years, along with modest increases in defense spending. The proposal totals $1.52 trillion, an 8.4 percent increase from 2021. These changes include:
- Department of Agriculture: $27.8 billion, a 16 percent increase.
- Department of Commerce: $11.4 billion, a 28 percent increase.
- Department of Defense: $715 billion, a 1.6 percent increase.
- Department of Education: $102.8 billion, a 41 percent increase.
- Department of Energy: $46.1 billion, a 10.2 percent increase.
- Department of Health and Human Services: $133.7 billion, a 23 percent increase.
- Department of Homeland Security: $52.0 billion, roughly equal to 2021.
- Department of Housing and Urban Development: $68.7 billion, a 15 percent increase.
- Department of the Interior: $17.4 billion, a 16 percent increase.
- Department of Justice: $35.2 billion, a 5.3 percent increase.
- Department of Labor: $14.2 billion, a 14 percent increase.
- Department of State and international programs: $63.5 billion, a 12 percent increase.
- Department of Transportation: $25.6 billion, a 14 percent increase.
- Department of Veterans Affairs: $113.1 billion, an 8.2 percent increase.
- Army Corps of Engineers – Civil Works: $6.8 billion, a 12.9 percent decrease.
- Environmental Protection Agency: $11.2 billion, a 21.3 percent increase.
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration: $24.7 billion, a 6.3 increase.
- National Science Foundation: $10.2 billion, a 20 percent increase.
- Small Business Administration: $852 million, a 9.4 percent increase.
- Social Security Administration: $14.2 billion, a 9.7 percent increase.
News from the Hill
The Student Debt Burden and Its Impact on Racial Justice, Borrowers, and the Economy
The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs subcommittee on Economic Policy heard from witnesses about the student debt crisis’s contribution to wealth inequality. Witnesses testified that, while student debt has negatively impacted social mobility and broadened the racial wealth gap, solutions to the crisis remain unclear, particularly due to the cost of student loan forgiveness.
Executive & Regulatory Affairs
White House
On April 15, the Biden Administration announced the release of $39 billion to states, territories, and tribes to address the national childcare crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The funds are to assist early childhood and family care providers to stay afloat and continue providing services. Read impact data and further details about the effort.
Council on Environmental Quality
Brenda Mallory has been confirmed to lead the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). She is the first African American to serve as CEQ Chair, a role that involves serving as the principal environmental policy advisor to the president.
Department of Agriculture
USDA’s Rural Development agency is seeking public comments until April 27, 2021, on the Rural Utilities Service’s (RUS) ReConnect Program Regulation. This regulation codifies policies and procedures for the USDA ReConnect Program. The regulation becomes effective April 27, 2021. Information needed to provide comments:
- The docket number: RUS-20-Telecom-0023
- The Regulatory Information Number (RIN): 0572-AC51
For more details, watch the 4/14/2021 USDA webinar on the regulation.
Department of Commerce
National Oceanographic and Aeronautical Administration
NOAA’s National Integrated Heat Health Information System (NIHHIS) and partners are launching new community-led campaigns that will map the hottest parts of cities in 11 states across the country this summer. The purpose is to understand where action is needed to protect vulnerable populations now and in the future. The communities include Albuquerque, New Mexico; Atlanta; New York City; Charleston, South Carolina; Kansas City, Missouri; Raleigh & Durham, North Carolina; San Diego; San Francisco; and parts of New Jersey, Indiana, Massachusetts, and Virginia.
Bureau of Economic Analysis
On April 12, this Commerce Bureau and the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics announced an update and expansion of their joint data set showing sources of growth or decline in industries and how those sources affect the U.S. economy overall. New detail was added about the contributions of information technology and other types of capital assets./p>
Economic Development Administration
On April 14, EDA announced its new priorities for its competitive grants programs. Competitive grant applications will need to be responsive to the evaluation criteria listed under each individual funding announcement, including at least one of the following investment priorities:
- Equity
- Recovery & Resilience
- Workforce Development
- Manufacturing
- Technology-Based Economic Development
- Environmentally-Sustainable Development
- Exports & Foreign Direct Investment
Department of Interior
On April 23, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and Domestic Policy Advisor Susan Rice will convene the first White House Council on Native American Affairs (WHCNAA) meeting of the Biden-Harris administration. Secretary Deb Haaland will serve as the Council’s Chair.
Secretary Haaland issued a new Secretarial Order establishing a Climate Task Force to coordinate work across the Department, including accelerating renewable energy development and identifying actions to foster investments in energy communities. The Secretary’s announcement includes recission of previous Executive Orders that the Biden Administration has deemed detrimental to the nation’s public lands.
Department of Labor
The Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) has announced a technical assistance initiative that aims to align state policy and funding to increase competitive integrated employment for individuals with mental health conditions in seven states: Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Virginia, and Wisconsin. The new assistance program supports ODEP’s Advancing State Policy Integration for Recovery and Employment initiative, launched in December 2020.
Department of Treasury
The Department announced this week it has established a new Office of Recovery Programs to lead the Department's implementation of economic relief and recovery programs, including nearly $420 billion in programs from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA.) Jacob Leibenluft will serve as the lead administrator of recovery programs and principal advisor to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary on recovery program implementation. The Office’s team will work closely with Gene Sperling, the White House American Rescue Plan Coordinator and Senior Advisor to President Biden.
On April 9, the Department announced the state allocations for the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI). The American Rescue Plan Act provides $10 billion to fund the SSBCI for state, territory, and Tribal government small business credit support and investment programs.
Internal Revenue Service
- The IRS has proposed new requirements that certain foreign individuals and foreign-owned partnerships must meet to access tax benefits for qualified opportunity funds and their investors under Internal Revenue Code section 1400Z-2.
- Commissioner Charles Rettig told Congress on Tuesday that the agency is on track to start making monthly payments of the child tax credit in July, widely believed a step if Congress decides in the future to make the expansion of the credit in the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) permanent. The ARPA directs the IRS to issue advance payments of the credit on a periodic basis so that families receive money in installments throughout the year rather than in a single payment after they file their tax returns.
Happening in the States
Exclusive from our colleagues at the National Council of Nonprofits.
States Considering Whether to Curb Donor Disclosures
At least ten states have considered legislation this year to restrict the power of state and local governments to require on a confidential basis the names of donors and other supporters of charitable nonprofit organizations. Promoters of the bills claim donor privacy; opponents object to the infringement of normal law-enforcement authority.
Lawmakers in South Dakota enacted two laws (HB 1079 and SB 103) that will prohibit the executive branch from requiring any filing or report by a nonprofit or charitable trust “that is more stringent, restrictive, or expansive than that required by state or federal law” or provide the state with “personal affiliation information” of any member, supporter, volunteer, or donor to a nonprofit in the state. Legislation under consideration in Arkansas, Iowa (HF 309 / SSB 1036), North Carolina (SB 685), Oklahoma, Tennessee (HB 159 / SB 1608), and West Virginia are substantively similar to one or both of the South Dakota laws. A separate measure in North Carolina (SB 636) would prohibit nonprofits from disclosing donor’s identities without the consent of the board of directors, a prohibition that may hamstring appreciation for event sponsors and other actions by nonprofits. Bills in Nebraska and New York (A.1141 / S.4817> / A.11154) have failed to move, and a bill in Wyoming died due to legislative deadlines.
The U.S. Supreme Court is currently considering a case involving the California requirement that charitable nonprofits registering under the state’s solicitation laws must submit on a private, confidential basis the organizations’ lists of significant donors. That list is normally compiled and filed with the Internal Revenue Services as Schedule B to the organization’s Form 990. The Justices will hear oral arguments on April 26. All of the briefs in the litigation have been posted at the Supreme Court Docket.
Read NCN’s recent post, Why We Filed an Amicus Brief in the U.S. Supreme Court to Protect Charitable Nonprofits.
