Advocacy Alert – April 7, 2023

In this Alliance Advocacy Alert:

• Contact Congress: Urge Your Senators to Support OMS Funding Now!
• Ask Your Legislators: Co-sponsor Charitable Giving Act
• Tax Deduction Benefit for Nonprofits: Energy-Efficient Tax Deduction
• Technical Assistance Webinar: DHS-FEMA Nonprofit Security Grant Program

Contact Congress: Urge Your Senators to Support OMS Funding Now!

Senator Gillibrand (D-NY) is circulating a letter to her Senate colleagues calling for robust funding for the Office of Museum Services (OMS) at the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).

It just takes a couple of minutes to use our template and ask your Senators to sign on. It is critical to contact Senators as soon as possible for them to join this letter. The letter is a key measure of legislators’ support for federal funding for museums, and it is especially important now to build on our momentum from Museums Advocacy Day. We also urge museum advocates who participated in congressional meetings during Museums Advocacy Day to follow up with their congressional contacts and encourage their Senators to sign on. Note that multiple touches may be required to secure a sign-on.

Thank you for contacting your Senators!

Legislators need to hear from you–the people they represent–about how their decisions affect museums and museum people. Thanks to advocates who contacted their Representative to sign on to the House OMS funding support letter that was previously circulating. 

ICYMI – AAM Witness Testifies before Congress on IMLS-OMS Funding: On March 23 Amy Templeton, President and CEO of the McWane Science Center in Birmingham, Alabama, testified on behalf of AAM before the House Labor-HHS-Education and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee in support of FY 2024 IMLS-OMS funding. Watch her testimony here at the 1:15 mark and see written testimony here.

Ask Your Legislators: Co-sponsor Charitable Giving Act

On March 1, a bipartisan group of Senators introduced The Charitable Act (S.566) that would create a non-itemizer, universal charitable deduction – one of our priority “asks” on Museums Advocacy Day. Specifically, the bill would enable taxpayers who take the standard deduction (about 88% of taxpayers) to deduct charitable donations of up to one-third of the standard deduction, about $4,600 for individuals and $9,200 for married couples based on the current standard deduction. The bill was introduced with 10 bipartisan cosponsors, including lead sponsors and AAM Museums Advocacy Day Congressional Honorees Senators Chris Coons (D-DE) and James Lankford (R-OK). A House version of the measure is expected to be introduced in the coming weeks. Please contact your Senators and urge them to co-sponsor the Charitable Act and ask your Representative to do so once the House bill is introduced.

Contact Congress: Co-sponsor the Charitable Act

New Tax Deduction Benefit for Nonprofits: Energy-Efficient Tax Deduction

Nonprofits, including museums, can now benefit from tax deductions if they install energy-efficient equipment in new or renovated buildings they own. While tax credits or deductions don’t usually provide benefit to nonprofits, as tax-exempt organizations generally do not have any income tax liability, changes in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) passed in 2022 extend a tax incentive that has been in the Internal Revenue Code since 2005 to nonprofits. The change gives organizations more negotiating power when building or renovating their structures. Learn more about the Energy-Efficient Tax Deduction.

DHS-FEMA Nonprofit Security Grant Program Technical Assistance Webinar

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) invites nonprofit organizations, including museums, to participate in an upcoming webinar on April 25, 3-5 PM ET, regarding the fiscal year (FY) 2023 Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP). The NSGP provides funding support through a competitive process for facility hardening and other security enhancements to nonprofit organizations at high risk of a terrorist attack and promotes emergency preparedness coordination and collaboration between public and private community representatives, as well as state, local, tribal, and territorial governments. Total funding available for FY 2023 is $305 million. Register here for the webinar and to learn more about the FY 2023 NSGP priorities, eligibility, and application process.

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Your steadfast advocacy efforts make a huge difference in building needed support for museums and museum professionals.

Now is a great time to make a plan to advocate for museums throughout 2023. Use our year-round advocacy ideas to get started today.

Visit http://www.aam-us.org/advocacy to access all of AAM’s advocacy resources.