News from the Hill Congress Grows More Skeptical of Universities This Wednesday, the Ways and Means Oversight Committee held a hearing entitled: Protecting the Free Exchange of Ideas on College Campuses. Though the motivation for this hearing perhaps stemmed from previously expressed skepticism…

News from the Hill POTUS Sends FY 2017 Budget Proposal to Congress On Tuesday, President Obama released his Fiscal Year 2017 Budget Proposal. The $4.1 trillion Budget sets forth the Administration’s spending and policy priorities for the coming year, including several provisions that have…

News from the Hill POTUS Delivers his Final State of the Union Address In his final State of the Union address, President Obama spoke of his hope and vision for the future of the nation. Rather than listing specific policy plans, President Obama emphasized themes that harken back to the early…

Washington Snapshot will be taking a break for the next few weeks during the holidays. Our offices will be closed from December 25th—January 1st, but we wish all of our readers a happy and peaceful holiday with family and friends! Snapshot will return on Friday, January 8th. News from the Hill One…

Take Action Now on Extenders Hundreds of thousands heard the message! Yesterday marked the kickoff in a series of days over the next three weeks when the Council and our colleagues in the field will commit 5 minutes for philanthropy, and connect with Members of Congress about reinstating the…

Due to the Labor Day holiday, this week’s edition of Washington Snapshot is slightly abbreviated. We wish our readers an enjoyable Labor Day! News from the Hill Congress is in recess through the Labor Day holiday and will return to Washington on September 8th for a busy end-of-year legislative…

Global Policy Update This past Wednesday, the Council on Foundations and the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL) hosted a conference call on China's Draft Law on Management of Overseas NGOs and its potential impact on U.S. funders and other organizations working in and with China.…

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…

Philanthropy Week in Washington is 2 Weeks Away! Empowering Communities. Together. Mark your calendars: the second annual Philanthropy Week in Washington kicks off on Monday, March 16th! As our readers know, Philanthropy Week in Washington is a week-long series of events and activities hosted…

In this week's Washington Snapshot: House Passes America Gives More Act of 2015; Other News from the Hill; News from the Administration; Trending in Legal Affairs; Philanthropy News & Op-Eds; and more! Read all this and more, online now!

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…

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…

114th Congress Kicks Off The 114th Congress converged on D.C. this week, with many new lawmakers among them. Fifty-eight new members of the House of Representatives and twelve new Senators started their new jobs this week. Check out National Journal’s interactive guide to the new members of…

Congress Extends IRA Rollover for 2014 Wyden: "This tax bill doesn't have the shelf life of a carton of eggs." The Senate voted on Tuesday night to extend the tax extenders—including the IRA charitable rollover—for 1 year, retroactive for 2014. The chamber voted 76-16 to pass H.R. 5771, the House…

Joining Forces Impact Pledge organizers announced five new pledges to the Philanthropy Joining Forces Impact Pledge at an event at Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum last week. With the new commitments, a total of 35 participants have pledged more than $200 million over the next five years to…