On May 6-7, NTCF CEO Rose Bradshaw was among 17 Community Foundation CEOs from across the country invited to testify before the U.S. Treasury regarding proposed regulations that if enacted would have a negative impact on local charitable giving. Each member of the delegation individually testified before Treasury (day one of the hearing lasted 6.5 hours!) and met with 11 members of congress and 22 congressional staffers.
The effort was bolstered by a bipartisan letter submitted by 33 members of the Ways and Means Committee (21R, 12D) to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen expressing concerns with the broad nature of the regulations and asks regulators to consider the end-use charities when crafting final regulations.
Recent comments for Administration officials signal the sector’s efforts to address the concerns raised with the proposed rules may be working. Treasury official Amber MacKenzie said the set of public comments the rule received was “one of the best I’ve read in my career,” adding they were greatly appreciated.
Our thanks to NTCF’s outstanding legal counsel, Darren Moore, shareholder at Bourland Wall & Wenzel, for drafting a joint response to the regulations on behalf of 36 community foundations across the state of Texas. The statement beautifully captured the collective impact of our fundholders’ generosity and the negative impact the proposed regs would have on philanthropy in Texas. Collectively, our Donor Advised Funds distributed more than $400MM in 2023!