April 21, 2011, 10:38 am
Are states moving too quickly to approve new corporate structures for businesses that blend profits with social and environmental goals?
Two bills that would establish such structures in California are gaining momentum, and the California Association of Nonprofits is asking the state legislature to slow down and consider how any changes to corporate forms might affect charities.
Some proponents of the bills say passage would enable California to become a leader in experimenting with new for-profit structures and could bring billions of dollars of new capital to bear on social and environmental problems.
But Kenneth M. Larsen, director of public policy at the California Association of Nonprofits, says that the legislature should proceed with the same cautions required of scientists.
“If you go into an experiment, you have to take a look at the risks to the subjects, and in…
April 12, 2011, 11:17 pm
Arizona, which made national headlines last February when Gov. Jan Brewer asked the federal government if it could drop 280,000 people from its Medicaid rolls, remains a battlefield over the government health program for the poor.
The governor last week signed a bill that would cut the state’s contribution to the program by $500-million in the 2012 fiscal year—prompting immediate threats of a lawsuit and a new advocacy campaign by nonprofit and other hospitals.
As in many other states, Arizona lawmakers said Medicaid costs are spiraling out of control and they have to trim them to close a giant budget shortfall. This plan is less drastic than the one originally proposed by Ms. Brewer, but nonprofit advocates said it would still cut a huge hole in the state’s safety net.
Tim Schmaltz, coordinator of Protecting Arizona’s Family Coalition, a group of health and…
April 6, 2011, 10:22 am
Alaska residents pledged more than $1.5-million this year to nonprofits as part of a program that encourages residents to give a portion of state dividend payments they receive to charity.
The effort is tied to Alaska’s permanent fund dividend program, which gives Alaskans one quarter of the royalties collected through oil and natural-gas drilling projects. Each Alaska resident gets an equal payment, which typically ranges from $300 to just under $2,000 annually.
Three years ago, the state began encouraging residents to consider giving some of their dividends to charity through a program called “Pick. Click. Give.”
Residents who claim the dividend online are directed to a Web page that offers them the option of pledging some or all of their dividends to one of 401 approved nonprofits. The organizations cover a wide range of issues and include all of the University of…
State Watch tracks how state and local budgets and policies affect the nonprofit world. Suzanne Perry, a senior editor at The Chronicle covering government issues, seeks ideas and examples for this blog from all 50 states. To share what’s happening in your state, e-mail her or connect with her on Twitter.
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