We had a productive trip to the nation’s capitol on September 9-12, 2024

Executive Director Paul Smith and Associate Director Cory Lawrence attended the American Association of Christian Schools National Legislative Conference in Washington, DC. On Tuesday, they heard messages from Pastor Chuck Phelps, attended a briefing at the Heritage Foundation, followed by a Congressional briefing, and then attended the NLC banquet honoring Congresswoman Cathy McMorris-Rodgers.

On Wednesday, Paul Smith, along with Cory Lawrence, Steven Brondyke (GACS Executive Director), Pastor Rod Bell (GACS President), and Dr. Mark Cronemeyer (Killian Hill Christian School) went to Capitol Hill for meetings in several legislative offices. They were able to meet with several congressmen in person and left letters on three different issues at thirteen of fourteen Georgia House Offices.

One of the letters encouraged Georgia Congressional Representatives to support the Charitable Act. The Charitable Act would re-incentivize Americans to give to nonprofits and charities by allowing non-itemizing taxpayers to claim a universal charitable deduction of up to one-third of the standard deduction (Find more information on why this is necessary and beneficial at Paul Smith’s letter to Georgia Congressmen, here). This bipartisan act would benefit nonprofits and charities as well as the taxpayer.

Another one of the letters concerned the Safeguarding Charity Act. Citizen Impact supports this bill because it would codify what has been the understanding for decades — that being tax-exempt is not equivalent to receiving Federal Financial Assistance (FFA). This idea recently became disputed when several courts ruled that tax-exempt, nonprofit organizations were considered recipients of FFA. If tax-exempt organizations were permanently appointed as recipients of FFA, Churches and Christian schools would be required to follow federal regulations, similar to a public school or university (e.g., hiring and firing processes, curriculum, etc.) Find more information on this bill at Paul Smith’s letter to Georgia Congressmen, here.