State Charity Officials Express Opposition To Changing The Johnson Amendment

Monday, August 28, 2017

The latest network to oppose weakening the Johnson Amendment is the network of officials (such as state Attorneys General and Secretaries of State) who are responsible for regulation of the charitable sector in each individual state.  The National Association of State Charity Officials (NASCO)a recently send a letter to Congressional leaders, arguing that charitable activities should remain non-partisan.  They expressed concern that permitting even limited partisan activity would have adverse impacts on their ability to  ensure charitable resources are being used for charitable purposes, thereby preserving trust in the integrity of public charities.  In the letter, NASCO officials pointed out that “thousands of the organizations that would be affected by efforts to weaken on repeal the Johnson Amendment have spoken out to oppose those efforts.”   They also noted the effectiveness of nonpartisanship, which also “helps ensure that charities regulators can work cooperatively efforts to combat charities fraud and protect charitable assets, regardless of the political affiliation of our elected and appointed Attorneys General, Secretaries of State or other officials.”