Breaking News: Secretary Duncan to Step Down Just today, U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced that he will be stepping down in December from the position, which he has held since the beginning of the Obama Administration in 2009. It is expected that President Obama will…

As a reminder to our readers, Washington Snapshot will be taking a break next week and the week of the 28th. Activate in August With many Members of Congress out of town and back home in their districts for the August recess, much of the action has shifted away from Washington and toward local…

News from the Hill Senate Finance Committee Markup of "Tax Extenders" Package This Tuesday, the Senate Finance Committee convened to markup a bill that would renew 52 of the “tax extenders,” including the charitable provisions, for the 2015 and 2016 tax years. As our readers will recall, these…

News from the Hill The Council Visits the Hill This past Monday, July 13th, representatives from the Community Foundations National Standards Board (CFNSB) and the Council’s Public Policy and Legal Affairs Team met with congressional staff from the House Ways and Means Committee, the Senate Finance…

We want to remind our readers that we will not be publishing Snapshot next week in light of the Fourth of July holiday. We wish you all a happy Fourth! News from the Hill Senate Tax Reform Working Groups Will Not Meet Today’s Deadline The Council has been following the progress of the Senate…

News from the Hill Tax Reform Work Still Ongoing, McConnell Says This week, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) expressed his doubts that comprehensive tax reform will occur in the next two years. However, McConnell emphasized that even without comprehensive reform, Congress will still…

We’re coming to you a day early as we prepare for the holiday weekend. Memorial Day provides a special time to honor the service and sacrifice of our military men and women. We want to thank those who have served and are serving in our Nation’s military. Join Us: Global Policy Call China's Draft…

@_____ #Act4Good by supporting the work of nonprofits; support the America Gives More Act #HR644 @_____ Help our communities and the nonprofits that serve them: pass the America Gives More Act #Act4Good #HR644 @_____ Communities served by #nonprofits deserve better; #Act4Good and pass the America…

News from the Hill Yesterday, the House of Representatives passed a bill that would exempt donations to 501(c)(4)s, (5)s, and (6)s from the gift tax. As POLITICO points out, this would exempt a broad category of political organizations from the gift tax. Current law is ambiguous on whether donors…

Ways & Means Committee Passes Charitable Bills The House Ways and Means Committee met Wednesday to markup several important bills focused on the charitable sector. The actions included making permanent charitable “tax extenders,” such as the IRA charitable rollover and simplifying the…

Senate Finance Committee Looks to Tax Reform Hatch and Wyden Launch Bipartisan Tax Reform Working Groups On Thursday the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Ron Wyden (D-OR), announced five new bipartisan tax reform working groups. The groups…

Tell Congress: Pass the America Gives More Act While your lawmakers are home in October to ask for votes, make sure you ask them to pass the America Gives More Act provisions into permanent law during the lame duck! A Bloomberg BNA piece this week highlighted the challenging position in which IRA…

In this week's Washington Snapshot: August Recess Council August Tool Kit Dynamic Scoring Hearing Eric Cantor Resigns New Bills Social Impact Bonds Senate Bill Regulatory Updates And more! Read this issue today!

Just Announced: August Recess Toolkit Have you scheduled time with your Congressional delegation during August recess? If so, we have just the tools and resources you might need . . . In the past few editions of our weekly Washington Snapshot newsletter, we have been previewing an upcoming policy…

Last Chance: Public Policy Preconference We are delighted with the level of interest we’ve received for our inaugural Council on Foundations Public Policy Seminar! The event, which takes place on Saturday, June 7th, from 9:30 am-4:30 pm at the Washington Hilton in Dupont Circle, is a preconference…

Today, the House Ways and Means Committee met to markup several important bills focused on the charitable sector. One bill would make the charitable “tax extenders”—including the IRA charitable rollover—permanent law. Another would simplify the private foundation excise tax on investment income to…