Complete Story
09/05/2024
House Bills Aim to Curb Foreign Influence on Nonprofits
Leadership is concerned about undue Chinese influence
Next week, the House is expected to vote next week on several bills aimed at countering Chinese influence, including two that could impact associations and other tax-exempt entities.
The first is the No Foreign Election Interference Act (H.R. 8314), which would bar tax-exempt organizations from contributing to political action committees (PACs) if they receive foreign donations.
The bill was introduced earlier this year by Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), a member of the House Ways and Means Committee.
“In order to protect the sanctity of our elections, tax-exempt organizations that accept contributions from foreign nationals should not be allowed to financially contribute to political committees,” Malliotakis said. “Tax-exempt organizations who don’t want to play by the rules that are in the best interest of our democracy deserve to have their tax-exempt status revoked to prevent our adversaries from exploiting our electoral process of the backs of taxpayers.”
What's next: Another bill headed for a floor vote next week is the Foreign Grant Reporting Act (H.R. 8290), which would require any tax-exempt organization to include in their annual filing certain information regarding any grants provided to foreign entities.
The bill was introduced by Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-PA), also a member of the House Ways and Means Committee.
"American tax law should not shield bad actor non-profit organizations who seek to fund terrorism abroad and sow discord at home," Smucker said. "This commonsense measure would provide greater transparency into the work of non-profits by requiring the disclosure of information already reqired of grants made to domestic organizations. We should ensure that our tax code does not provide cover to tax-exempt organizations who funnel money abroad to organizations who wish to harm our national interests."
Both bills were favorably advanced through House Ways and Means earlier this year.
This article was provided to OSAP by ASAE's Power of Associations and Inroads.
