Policy Update

Independent Sector Policy Update
July 15, 2005
 

IS Sends letter to Senate on Estate Tax Reform IRA Rollover Bill Introduced in Senate Fax Bill Signed by President

Other Policy Issues Federal Bill Tracker Nonprofit State Legislation Tracker (PDF) (members only) Past Policy Updates

IS Sends letter to Senate on Estate Tax Reform
Independent Sector sent a letter (PDF) to all members of the Senate on July 12th expressing concern that full repeal of the estate tax could cause serious harm to philanthropic giving and urging support for reasonable reform that will preserve incentives for charitable giving and retain significant revenue for the federal treasury. The Senate is expected to vote on estate tax legislation in the next few weeks.

IS urged Senators to make permanent the estate tax law as it will exist in 2009 under current law when the exemption will be $3.5 million ($7 million for a couple) and the top tax rate will be 45%. This position is supported by a new CBO study (PDF) released in July 2005 that concluded that nearly all family farms and family-owned businesses will be exempt from the estate tax in that year.
Senate efforts to negotiate a bi-partisan compromise bill continue. Although there is no agreement yet, Majority Leader Frist (R-TN) has promised a vote on estate tax legislation before the August recess. If no bi-partisan bill is introduced, Senator Frist may call for a vote on full repeal of the estate tax, even though it appears he does not have the 60 votes he will need to pass the bill.
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IRA Rollover Bill Introduced in Senate
Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) has introduced S 1366, the Public Good IRA Rollover Act in the Senate. It is the same bill that was introduced in the House by Representatives Wally Herger (R-CA) and Earl Pomeroy (D-ND) (HR 1607). The legislation would allow tax-free distributions to charities from individual retirement accounts. Donors aged 59½ and over could rollover amounts from an IRA to create a life income (deferred) gift to a charity; and donors aged 70½ and over could make direct cash contributions to a charity without including the donated amount as income for tax purposes. IS joined other nonprofit organizations in signing a letter of support to Representatives Herger and Pomeroy.
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Fax Bill Signed by President
On July 9, President Bush signed S 714, a bill to amend the 2003 Federal Communications Commission's proposed “do not fax” rule by restoring the “established business relationship” exception for faxed communications. S. 714 will permit businesses, associations, and charities to continue to send faxed advertisements to their customers and members without receiving prior written permission, as long as the organizations provide a chance for recipients to opt out of receiving future documents.
Summary of the new opt-out requirement
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