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Public Policy
Nonprofit
Policy News
Governor
announces unallotment plans
When
the 2009 Legislative Session ended on May 18, the state was still
left with a $2.7 billion deficit for the next biennium. On June 16th,
Governor Pawlenty announced his plan for solving that remaining deficit
through unallotment. He described his announcement as a proposal,
not a finalized plan.
Read the major
components of the unallotment proposal at the Minnesota Budget
Bites blog.
Nonprofit
property tax exemption bill signed into law
MCN's top 2009 legislative agenda item was to pass a nonprofit property
tax exemption bill; we're very pleased to report the bill was passed
and signed on Saturday, May 16th. Please visit the charitable
property tax exemption campaign site to learn more about the
new law and what it means for nonprofits.
Audit
threshold raised to $750,000 for nonprofits
The governor has signed a bill with a provision to increase the
threshold at which organizations are required to obtain an audited
financial statement that have been examined by an independent certified
public accountant. The bill changes the threshold from $350,000,
where it has sat for the last twelve years, to $750,000. Organizations
with a fiscal year ending July 1, 2008 or later, fall under the
new limit of $750,000 for 2008 reporting. MCN believes that for
Minnesota, given the dramatically increased costs of audits and
the filing of the new IRS form 990, along with the effects of inflation,
this is an appropriate time to increase the threshold.
Read the language
of the bill, HF1298, that was included in the the tax policy bill.
The provision is at section
191.34 in the bill.
Public
Policy at the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits
MCN supports individual nonprofits and Minnesota’s
nonprofit sector to be their own best voice. Our policy work has
focused on informing nonprofits of what is proposed in policy arenas,
what it means and how nonprofits can serve as a resource to decision
makers as they choose priorities and funding options. We host events,
workshops, trainings and issue briefings, deliver testimony and
distribute email legislative updates to ensure that nonprofits are
educated and engaged on key issues facing the state.
Over
the past 20 years, MCN has advocated on issues that impact all
nonprofits, their constituents and communities and has succeeded
in a range of efforts to increase incentives to charitable giving
and protect nonprofit tax exemptions, lobbying rights and election
activity rights.
Current
Campaigns include:
Invest
in Minnesota Campaign - The Invest in Minnesota
Campaign is a nonpartisan group interested in mobilizing Minnesota’s
nonprofit organizations, labor groups, religious community,
and eventually Minnesota’s citizens, around the idea of
creating new revenue, raising it fairly, and using this new
revenue to invest in education, health care, and public infrastructure.
Projects
of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits include:
Minnesota
Participation Project (MPP) - This is an exciting effort
to support and expand the capacity of Minnesota nonprofit 501(c)(3)
organizations to effectively engage in permissible nonpartisan voter
engagement efforts - registration, voter education and beyond. MPP
is also working with community partners to ensure a complete count
in the 2010 Census.
Minnesota
Budget Project - The Minnesota
Budget Project provides independent research, analysis and outreach
on budget and tax policy issues at the state and federal level,
emphasizing their impact on low- and moderate-income persons and
the nonprofits that serve them.
National
Voter Education Network (NVEN)
- The Nonprofit Voter Engagement Network (NVEN) is a collaboration
of statewide voter engagement initiatives anchored in the nonprofit
sector. NVEN is dedicated to expanding the role of America’s
nonprofits in voting and elections with the goal of increasing participation
in the democratic process among all citizens with a focus on those
with a history of lower voter participation. The initiative is a
nonpartisan program of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, the
largest statewide nonprofit association in the country.
Questions? Comments? Contact Jeff Narabrook
at jeff@mncn.org
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