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Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Should Nonprofits Fear ALEC Legislators?




It might be more appropriate for nonprofits to consider 
that there but for the grace of the legislature’s focus on 501(c)(5) labor unions 
go my 501(c)(3) public charity and I


SNIPS
From an article
In the Nonprofit Quarterly

    Written by –Rick Cohen
    Created on Wednesday, 13 March 2013 13:39
    March 12, 2013; Source: St. Louis Business Journal
The decision of the Missouri State Senate to pass “paycheck protection” legislation should be seen as a little shot across the bow for nonprofits, not just labor unions.

Why should nonprofits be concerned about paycheck protection legislation? In 2004, we wrote about the danger this practice poses to nonprofits. Remember that public sector union employees, including employees at the state level, typically participate in charitable giving through payroll deduction programs administered by organizations such as the United Way, America’s Charities, Earthshare, and a variety of local funds.

Every once in a while, states expand their concern about the use of paycheck deductions from unions to charities, suggesting that donors might not know about (or might not want to support) the public policy advocacy conducted by recipients of payroll deduction donations. This has happened before, as state managers of charitable giving campaigns have suddenly, inexplicably decided that some previously eligible charities were suddenly ineligible due to their public policy—read: political—advocacy.

It’s not a big leap to extend concerns about the political uses of funds by unions to concerns about advocacy uses by nonprofits.

Nonprofits may look at Missouri’s “paycheck protection” bill and confidently assume that, since they are not unions, they aren’t going to be hit by these punitive new statutes.

Think again. It might be more appropriate for nonprofits to consider that there but for the grace of the legislature’s focus on 501(c)(5) labor unions go my 501(c)(3) public charity and I.
At what point will "state legislators" of the American Legislative Exchange Council deliberately, & with malice destroy nonprofit funding streams - becausetheycan?  After all - ALEC legislators are the force behind "Paycheck Protection" laws.  All you have to do is piss off an ALEC legislator or the Koch brothers and there go your payroll deduction contributions to your nonprofit.

There but by the grace of god go I.


    First they came for the communists,
    and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.

    Then they came for the socialists,
    and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a socialist.

    Then they came for the trade unionists,
    and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.

    Then they came for me,
    and there was no one left to speak for me.
 


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