One reason for the action now is that after five years of reducing the welfare rolls, states are finally able to turn their attention to the law's charitable choice provision.
The IRA charitable rollover provision of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015, passed by Congress on December 18, revives the opportunity for qualified donors to make outright gifts of up to $100,000 to Harvard from their IRA.
Last year, in a bid to win Senate passage of the measure, President Bush agreed to drop another contentious element, the "charitable choice" provision, which would have let religious groups favor members of their own faith in hiring and ignore antidiscrimination laws.
The IRA charitable rollover provision has been on again, off again law since 2006.
Take the IRA charitable rollover provision that allows taxpayers aged 70 ½ to distribute up to $100,000 out of their IRA directly to charity (it enables non-itemizers to give more to charity).
Moreover, the recent federal welfare reform includes the "charitable choice" provision, which enables states to issue vouchers to individuals who can redeem them for services and aid from private, including religious, entities.
"This is something new," said Stanley Carlson-Thies, who helped develop the charitable-choice provision and now works in the White House Office on Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.
Because not everyone is content with the nonprofit affiliate solution and because it seemed beyond the reach of many neighborhood church groups, Congress has added "charitable choice" provisions to the welfare reform bill and other legislation.
