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Language that would allow the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury to designate a nonprofit as a terrorist supporting organization and yank its exempt status was tacked to the bottom of a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives that would provide tax relief to Americans held hostage.

While the Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act (H.R. 9495) was defeated in the House of Representatives, it is back on the table today. H.R. 9495 was just nine votes short of passing at 256 yes and 145 no.

House Rules Committee will consider H.R 9495, putting the bill through “regular order” by being granted a Rule from the House Rules Committee, which the bill will definitely get at today’s Rules Committee meeting, according to Mark Micali, vice president of Government Affairs at The Nonprofit Alliance in Washington, D.C.

The bill will be brought to the House floor, probably later this week, and will only need a simple majority, not two-thirds that was required when it went to the House Floor last week under so-called “Suspension of the Rules,” in effect, bypassing the House Rules Committee. Based on last week’s vote, it is expected to pass the House of Representatives.

U.S. Senate staffers are saying the bill will probably not be accepted by the Senate with the onerous language on granting the Secretary of the Treasury authority to revoke an organization’s tax-exempt status, without requiring the disclosure of evidence. Such a policy would disregard the Constitutional principle of due process, various nonprofit leaders told The NonProfit Times on background.

The legislation would allow the Secretary of the Treasury discretion, without requiring the disclosure of evidence, to deny an organization its tax-exempt status, according to Micali. Such a policy totally disregards the Constitutional principle of due process.

The bill was introduced by Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.). Charities would be notified by mail that the Secretary will designate the nonprofit as a terrorist supporting organization unless the organization satisfies the requirements of subclause in the legislation. The letter would include the name of the organization or organizations the Secretary has determined provided material support or sources.

At the close of the 90-day period beginning on the date that such notice was sent, the Secretary would be able to designate a nonprofit as a terrorist supporting organization if “and only if” the organization has not during the period “demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Secretary that such organization did not provide the material support or resources referred to in subparagraph or made reasonable efforts to have such support or resources returned to such organization and certified in writing to the Secretary that such organization will not provide any further support or resources to organizations described in paragraph.”

Foundations and universities have often been targeted for not just their large endowments but also for support of controversial topics and opinions. Vice President-elect J.D. Vance, during an appearance on Fox News three years ago, described the Ford Foundation, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Harvard University endowment as  “fundamentality cancers on American Society.”

The Council on Foundations, Independent Sector and the National Council of Nonprofits together issued a strongly-word denunciation of Section 4 of H.R.9495 and its predecessor, H.R.6408. “We have no opposition to the provision in the bill postponing tax deadlines for those unlawfully or wrongfully detained or held hostage abroad. And we strongly support stopping bad actors from using nonprofit organizations to fund terrorism. Unfortunately, this legislation as drafted also includes language from H.R.6408 that creates redundancies and confusion while providing the executive branch with expansive new authority that could be abused.”

The statement went on: “Even if the Secretary’s decision(s) were successfully reversed, designees would risk irreparable damage to their operations and reputation. The implication that an organization could be associated with terrorism could cause it to lose not only access to banks and other financial institutions but also the trust of donors and the communities it serves. In the end, the beneficiaries of nonprofits’ work would suffer the most.”

The fear is that nonprofits providing humanitarian assistance in conflict zones, even when operating under Office of Foreign Assets Control authorizations, could be subject to losing their exempt status.

The organization stressed: “It is already illegal to provide material support to foreign terrorist organizations. Organizations suspected of violating the law are rightly subject to criminal investigation and prosecution. Section 4 of H.R.9495 may achieve the goal of expediting these cases, but it does so at the expense of fairness and transparency. If the investigation process needs refinement or expedition, we stand ready to work with policymakers on changes that protect due process rights of nonprofit organizations and guard against future abuse.

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Source From Non Profit Times