More than 20 religious leaders sent a letter Wednesday to President Obama urging him to show "active and public leadership" to get Congress to pass a health-care overhaul bill.

"We implore you to make it plain to all Americans that the decisions of Congress have moral consequences," it says. "Letting this life-line lapse would be a failure of historic proportions."

The letter, sent as the president prepares to deliver his State of the Union address tonight, was signed by representatives of groups including Catholics in Alliance for the Public Good, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Hindu American Seva Charities, Jewish Council for Public Affairs, National Council of Churches USA, and Sojourners. The signers include more than a third of the White House Office for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships

"Too many people in our congregations and communities have waited too long...

Is your nonprofit group registered to solicit money in all 50 states?

In the past, it wasn’t necessary for many groups to file registration papers outside of their home states. But with the advent of online fund raising, many organizations are probably violating laws in some states because they are collecting donations without letting state authorities know.

Tony Martignetti, a planned-giving adviser in New York and author of Charity Registration: State-by-State Guidelines for Compliance, says he believes as many as 90 percent of all nonprofit groups have not complied with state registration laws.

And some states are starting to crack down.

This month, for instance, a foundation operated by H. Lamar Willis, an Atlanta city-council member, was fined $25,000 by Georgia regulators because it was not registered in that state, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

What should...

Haunted by memories of the failed effort to revamp health care during the Clinton administration, some nonprofit groups this summer are taking a more aggressive approach to pushing their ideas for a health-care overhaul.

But do nonprofit groups and foundations have the clout — and the money — to make a difference in the high-stakes battle over the future of America’s health-care system?

The membership organization AARP believes it does. With 40 million members, AARP is using its size and influence to help lead efforts to support health-care legislation that would benefit its far-flung membership.

To learn more about what the organization hopes to accomplish, listen to The Chronicle’s latest edition of Philanthropy This Week, a podcast about and for the nonprofit world.

As California, New York, and other states grapple with massive deficits, many nonprofit organizations are facing the prospect of significant cuts in government support.

Nonprofit groups stand to be among the most affected by these budget shortfalls because they have done a poor job of standing together to argue their cases to lawmakers, says Robert Egger, president of D.C. Central Kitchen, in Washington, and founder of the V3 Campaign, an effort to get nonprofit views considered in elections at the city, state, and federal levels.

Mr. Egger discusses the issue in more detail in the latest episode of Philanthropy This Week, the Chronicle‘s new podcast about the nonprofit world.

The Obama administration’s proposed 2010 budget would eliminate money for some social-services programs that had been staples of the Bush era.

Several other longstanding programs would receive about as much as they do now.

The White House would eliminate spending for the Compassion Capital Fund, which helps charities and religious groups provide social services through the Department of Health and Human Services. The fund received $48-million in 2009.

Mr. Obama sought no money for abstinence education; the government now spends about $133-million on such efforts.

Mr. Obama is, however, asking for $164-million for programs designed to reduce pregnancy among teenagers.

The budget also proposed no money for a program that now offers about $10-million to rural community facilities.

Several other programs to provide services to children and families would receive the same...

The Obama administration’s proposed 2010 budget includes $164-million to create a new program to prevent pregnancy among teenagers that would be administered largely by nonprofit groups.

Much of the money would be awarded to groups that can run programs based on evidence of what works best to prevent teenage pregnancy. In addition, money would be awarded for research and evaluation to further determine what works.

The program would be administered by the Department of Health and Human Services.

Pregnancy-prevention advocates are campaigning Congress to approve the measure.

“During an economic downturn and at a time when the teen birth rate is on the rise after 14 straight years on the decline, it is particularly important that public dollars be devoted to those interventions that have evidence of success,” said Sarah Brown, chief executive of The National Campaign to Prevent...

Arts and humanities groups could see increased money from the federal government in 2010, if Congress approves all of President Obama’s budget request.

Under the proposal, the National Endowment for the Humanities would receive about $171-million, up $16-million, or more than 10 percent, from 2009. That figure includes $10-million allocated for the National Capital Arts program, which is being shifted from another agency.

The administration has proposed increasing the appropriation for the National Endowment of the Arts by about 3.9 percent to $161.3-million. Congress had given the endowment $155-million in 2009 — a figure that does not include a separate $50-million appropriation to the endowment through the federal economic-stimulus law.

In addition, Mr. Obama’s budget proposal includes $38.16-million for the arts-in-education program at the Department of Education — a figure...

President Obama on Thursday is set to release the details of his proposed 2010 federal budget — and we’re looking for your help in collecting information about how his spending proposals will affect the nonprofit world.

If you or someone at your organization is tracking the budget proposals, please post your reactions, links to official statements, and analysis by clicking on the comment link below this item or send an e-mail message to our Web editor, Peter Panepento.

We will be providing regular updates about and reactions to the budget on Government & Politics Watch beginning Thursday.

We have also created a hashtag on Twitter devoted to the federal budget and nonprofit groups. The tag is #budgetnp.

Sen. Charles E. Grassley is expected to leave his powerful post on the Finance Committee in 2011 as part of a deal reached today with Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, who is expected to take over the top Republican spot on the Judiciary Committee.

Mr. Grassley, an Iowa Republican, is the senior Republican of the Finance Committee. In that role, he has been the Senate’s most active voice on key nonprofit issues such as abuse, the tax treatment of nonprofit hospitals, endowments, and executive compensation.

The Wall Street Journal had reported that Mr. Grassley was likely to leave his Finance Committee post to become the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee to replace Sen. Arlen Specter, who is switching parties.

But reports today quote Senate aides as saying the Judiciary post will instead go to Mr. Sessions.

Mr. Sessions would then vacate the post in 2011. At that time, Mr. ...

The signing of the Serve America Act today by President Obama is seen as a watershed event by many people in the nonprofit world, particularly officials of charities involved in large-scale volunteer efforts.

Alan Khazei, a leader of ServiceNation, a coalition of nonprofit groups that promotes community service, talked today with Suzanne Perry, a Chronicle senior editor, about the significance of the legislation.

Click on the audio link below to hear what Mr. Khazei had to say.