March 21, 2008

UJC applauds the U.S. House and Senate for approving Fiscal Year 2009 Budget Resolutions that include key provisions championed by UJC -- the expansion of the IRA charitable giving incentive, and the rejection of proposed cuts to Medicaid and Medicare.

“The expansion of the IRA charitable roll-over in the Senate-passed Budget Resolution, in tandem with the roll-back of Medicaid and Medicare cuts in the House version, are great victories for the Jewish federation system," said William C. Daroff, UJC's Vice President for Public Policy and Director of the Washington Office.  "We will be working to ensure these victories become law as the Senate and House work together to pass a final Budget Resolution.”
 
The Senate version of the Budget Resolution, passed last week, includes an amendment authored by Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) extending and expanding the IRA charitable giving incentive in the coming fiscal year, a philanthropic tax advantage dramatically affecting Jewish charitable giving. This amendment would reinstate the IRA Charitable Rollover and broaden it to cover life-income gifts, allowing even more individuals an opportunity to transfer funds tax-fee to charities. Many federations and their affiliated social service agencies are the direct beneficiaries of such rollover contributions which have been an important source of revenue for programs and services in their communities, including an innovative “grandparent-day school funding initiative,” among others.

UJC sent a letter to Senators in recent weeks urging approval of the Dorgan amendment and is strongly encouraging both the House and Senate to include this amendment in the final FY09 Budget Resolution, which will be considered later this spring. UJC is also advocating for the tax-writing committees in both the House and Senate to enact an expanded IRA Charitable Rollover as soon as possible.

“Including the IRA Charitable Rollover Provision in the Budget Resolution recognizes the importance of this incentive, which has enabled thousands of Americans to make millions of dollars of contributions to nonprofits such as hospitals, religious organizations, and educational institutions,” said Daroff. “The inclusion of this provision in the final version of this resolution is particularly important in the midst of these troubled economic times, when the need for these vital social services is rising and the charitable resources needed to provide them may become more scarce.”

Also last week, the House-passed its version of the Budget Resolution, which protects against many of the cuts to Medicare and Medicaid proposed by the Administration, including those to health providers and skilled nursing facilities that the Jewish community relies upon. Enacting these cuts would have caused uncompensated care levels to rapidly increase and threaten the continuity of care that social service providers, in general, and the federation system, in particular, provide to people in need.

“As the legislative session progresses, we hope that Congress keeps in mind the important role that non-profit providers and those who generously support these institutions play in ensuring that a strong long-term care continuum exists across the nation,” said Daroff.