|
Advocacy
|
Policy Updates
OPERA America represents the interests of the opera community before Congress, the White House and federal agencies. As a founding member of the Performing Arts Alliance, OPERA America works with the performing arts field to advocate for the development of national policies that recognize and strengthen the contributions that the arts make to America.
For more information on OPERA America’s advocacy activities, please contact OPERA America’s Government Affairs Office at 202-375-7523.
Latest Headlines
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Board Support and Advocacy Efforts
A recent article in the Chronicle of Philanthropy discussed the importance of engaging board members in advocacy efforts: “Charities must educate boards about the link between advocacy and the organizations' mission success, … board members can be a vital resource for gaining access to policy makers and developing relationships with them.” As most OPERA America members know, the most powerful arts advocacy begins at the local level. Does your opera organization engage its board members in advocacy? Have you considered forming an advocacy committee at the board level? Your board can be a powerful advocacy resource!
|
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Arts Skill Map Released at Senate Briefing
On July 15, six national arts education associations released an Arts Skills Map for the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, at a Senate briefing hosted by Sen. Harkin (D-IA), chairman of the Senate Health and Education Committee. The six associations that drafted the document included: American Alliance for Theatre & Education, the Educational Theatre Association, the National Art Education Association, MENC (the National Music Education Association), the National Dance Association, and the National Dance Education Organization. To learn more about the Partnership for 21s Century Skills and to view the Arts Skills Map, visit the link above.
|
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Update: Appropriations for Arts in Education Programs
On July 15, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Education held a markup hearing, awarding level funding of $40 million to the Arts in Education Programs at the Department of Education. As previously reported, the President’s budget request proposes that the Arts in Education Programs be consolidated into a broader, more competitive funding pool entitled, “Effective Teaching and Learning for a Well-Rounded Education.” At this time, it appears the House Appropriations Subcommittee will not be moving forward with the consolidation proposal. OPERA America, as a member of the Arts Education Working Group, has been asking Congress to increase funding to the Arts in Education Programs to $53 million and for the Department of Education to produce comprehensive reports on the status of arts education in America’s public schools.
|
Monday, July 19, 2010
USCIS Proposes Fee Increase
Opera organizations experiencing difficulty obtaining artist visas have a new opportunity to weigh in with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) as the agency proposes an across-the-board fee increase. The USCIS proposes a $5 increase in the fee for the regular I-129 visa processing form (which would bring the fee to $325), and a $225 increase in the Premium Processing fee (bringing the total fee to $1,225). The performing arts community is urging USCIS to immediately make long-overdue improvements to the regular artist visa process and to refrain from increasing the already-unaffordable Premium Processing fee. Comments to USCIS are due by July 26.
OPERA America, as a founding member of the Performing Arts Alliance, will submit detailed comments in collaboration with our national colleagues in the Performing Arts Visa Working Group: American Federation of Musicians, Association of Performing Arts Presenters, Dance/USA, League of American Orchestras, North American Performing Arts Managers and Agents and Theatre Communications Group.
Visit the following link to access the Action Alert and submit comments to USCIS.
http://paa.convio.net/site/MessageViewer?em_id=1221.0
|
Monday, July 12, 2010
Proposed Postal Rate Increase
The U.S. Postal Service announced plans to increase all postal rates starting in January 2011. The Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers, a group representing charities and other organizations came out strongly against the proposed increase, stating: "Consumers everywhere will pay more for the letters and packages they need to send; businesses - large and small - will suffer.” OPERA America, as a founding member of the Performing Arts Alliance, will continue to track postal rate changes for nonprofit organizations. For a full news story, visit the link above.
|
Monday, July 12, 2010
Temporary Pension Funding Relief
On June 25, President Obama signed into law the Preservation of Access to Care for Medicare Beneficiaries and Pension Relief Act of 2010. In case this legislation affects your opera organization, here are a few highlights:
For single employer plans, employers would be given two options to spread out their statutory pension funding obligations. The first option would allow employers to pay back their pension shortfall over 15 years (instead of seven) for any two plans years from 2008 to 2011. The second option would allow employers to make interest-only payments in the two years chosen with the shortfall amortized over the following seven years. For multi-employer plans, plans would be able to spread their 2008 investment losses over 30 years. Multi-employer plans would also be able to choose to smooth (i.e., average) their assets over 10 years (instead of five years).
|
Monday, July 12, 2010
The NEA and Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Hold Webinar on New Notice of Funding Availability
On Wednesday, July 7th, 2010, the NEA and U.S. Housing and Urban Development hosted a joint webinar on the recently released Notice of Funding Availability by HUD and the U.S. Department of Transportation. The Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant Program seeks to improve regional planning efforts for more livable and sustainable communities and consists of two funding categories: The Tiger II/Community Challenge Planning Grant (CCPG) and the Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant. HUD and the NEA are encouraging arts organizations to seek out and participate in the regional consortia (consisting of local governments, metropolitan planning organizations, educational institutions, and nonprofit organizations) submitting applications in the community where they are located. To learn more about this new grant program and to decide if applying is right for your organization, visit the HUD website at the link above.
|
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Sanders Expected to Introduce Estate Tax Legislation Today
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is expected today to introduce estate tax reform legislation. Titled the “Responsible Estate Tax Act,” the legislation would institute a tiered rate structure coupled with the $3.5 million individual exemption ($7 million for couples) that was in place in 2009 before the tax temporarily expired at the beginning of this year. The tiered structure would divide an estate’s value into brackets subject to progressively rising rates. Estates valued from $3.5 million to $10 million would be taxed at 45% rate; $10 million to $50 million would be taxed at 50%; and over $50 million would be taxed at 55%. Any portion of the estate that exceeds $500 million ($1 billion for couples) would then be subject to a 10% surtax. Sander’s proposal would also seek to close many of the estate tax “loopholes” identified in President Obama’s FY 2011 budget request. "This legislation would exempt over 99.7 percent of Americans from paying any estate tax whatsoever, while ensuring that the wealthiest Americans in our country pay their fair share," said Sanders in a dear colleague letter designed to drum up support for the bill. Source: Tax Analysts, BNA Daily Tax Report
|
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Ann Stock to become Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Educational And Cultural Affairs, State Department
The U.S. Senate has confirmed the nomination of Ann Stock for Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs. Stock’s nomination, as well as more than 100 others, had been stalled for months as a result of “holds” placed on them. Stock is currently the vice president for Institutional Affairs at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and served as an assistant to President Clinton and his social secretary from 1993 to 1997.
|
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Congresswoman Betty McCollum Introduces Bill on the Nonprofit Community
On June 16, Congresswoman McCollum (D-MN) introduced the Nonprofit Sector and Community Solutions Act (H.R.5533) as a vehicle to study how the nonprofit community can work with government more effectively and on improved data collection on the work of nonprofit organizations. Independent Sector strongly endorses the legislation which proposes the creation of a U.S. Council on the Nonprofit Sector and Community Solutions to advise the President and Congress about how the federal government can work more effectively with nonprofits. To view Independent Sector’s analysis on the legislation, visit the link above.
|
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
IRS Update on the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act (HIRE Act)
The Internal Revenue Service has issued the newly revised payroll tax form that most eligible employers can use to claim the special payroll tax exemption that applies to many new workers hired during 2010. Designed to encourage non-profit and for-profit employers to hire and retain new workers, the payroll tax exemption and the related new hire retention credit were created by the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act signed by President Obama on March 18. Employers who hire unemployed workers this year (after Feb. 3, 2010, and before Jan. 1, 2011) may qualify for a 6.2% payroll tax incentive, in effect exempting them from the employer’s share of Social Security tax on wages paid to these workers after March 18. This reduction will have no effect on the employee’s future Social Security benefits. The employee’s 6.2% share of Social Security tax and the employer and employee’s shares of Medicare tax still apply to all wages. In addition, for each qualified employee retained for at least a year whose wages did not significantly decrease in the second half of the year, businesses may claim a new hire retention credit of up to $1,000 per worker on their income tax return.
|
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Estate Tax
The federal Estate Tax serves as a strong incentive for individuals to donate from their estates to charitable organizations to reduce estate tax liability. The Estate Tax expired on December 31, 2009. Senator Baucus (D-MT), chair of the Senate Finance Committee, believes that the Estate Tax can be reinstated retroactively. And, President Obama has proposed reinstating the Estate Tax at 2009 levels ($3.5 million individual exemption, 45% rate). The Senate continues to debate ways to reinstate the estate tax and proposals are on the table to lower the tax rate and have a higher exemption level (above $3.5 million). For more information and talking points, visit Independent Sector at the link above.
|
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
IRS Video on Health Care Reform and Small Business
In addition to the comprehensive IRS site on tax provisions in health care reform, you can watch IRS videos on YouTube. To watch a web-chat between U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Small Business Administrator Karen Mills, visit the link above.
|
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
NEA's Open Government Page
The National Endowment for the Arts continues to update its Open Government page in an effort to make the agency's work more transparent. The page includes links to such topics as the NEA webcasts and the Art Works blog. To explore the NEA’s Open Government Page visit the link above.
|
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Tax-Free Employer-Provided Health Coverage Now Available for Children under Age 27
As a result of changes made by the recently enacted Affordable Care Act, health coverage provided for an employee's children under 27 years of age is now generally tax-free to the employee, effective March 30, 2010. The Internal Revenue Service announced today that these changes immediately allow employers with cafeteria plans –– plans that allow employees to choose from a menu of tax-free benefit options and cash or taxable benefits –– to permit employees to begin making pre-tax contributions to pay for this expanded benefit. In the link above, the IRS explains these changes and provides further guidance to employers, employees, health insurers and other interested parties.
|
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Performing Arts Alliance Files Comments on Network Neutrality with the FCC
On Monday, April 26, the Performing Arts Alliance, of which OPERA America is a member, filed public comments with the FCC in support of net neutrality. Monday, April 26 was the FCC deadline for filing Reply Comments in this proceeding. To read the PAA public comments, visit the link above.
|
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Independent Sector's New Health Care Reform Website
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) are already beginning the implementation process of the health care reform legislation, issuing guidance and working to determine the cost and scope of governing regulations. Some of the law's provisions will take effect immediately, like the small-employer credit provision, while others will be instituted over the next four years. Visit the Independent Sector site for an implementation timeline, links to government guidance, and a FAQ on the small employer tax credit.
|
Monday, April 19, 2010
IRS Reaches Out to Millions of Employers on Benefits of New Health Care Tax Credit
The Internal Revenue Service this week began mailing postcards to more than four million small businesses and tax-exempt organizations to make them aware of the benefits of the recently enacted small business health care tax credit.
Included in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act approved by Congress last month and signed into law by President Obama, the credit is one of the first health care reform provisions to go into effect. The credit, which takes effect this year, is designed to encourage small employers to offer health insurance coverage for the first time or maintain coverage they already have.
|
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
The Best Argument Arts Educators Are Not Making
Arts education has a crucial and underappreciated role to play in boosting reading achievement — especially among our most disadvantaged students who tend to have less out-of-school exposure to the arts than their more privileged peers.
|
Monday, April 05, 2010
Small Business Health Care Tax Credit
Many small businesses and tax-exempt organizations that provide health insurance coverage to their employees now qualify for a special tax credit, according to the Internal Revenue Service.
Included in the health care reform legislation, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, approved by Congress and signed by President Obama on March 23, the credit is designed to encourage small employers to offer health insurance coverage for the first time or maintain coverage they already have. In general, the credit is available to small employers that pay at least half the cost of single coverage for their employees.
|
Monday, April 05, 2010
States Skeptical About ‘Race to Top’ School Aid Contest
A dozen governors, led by Bill Ritter Jr. of Colorado, sat with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan in a hotel ballroom in Washington a few weeks back, praising his vision and gushing with enthusiasm over a $4 billion grant competition they hoped could land their states a jackpot of hundreds of millions of dollars.
|
Thursday, April 01, 2010
Arts Education and the Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee has set a speedy timeline for reauthorization of ESEA, formerly known as the No Child Left Behind Act. OPERA America, in coalition with the Performing Arts Alliance, is urging Congress to: Maintain the arts in the definition of core subjects of learning; Improve federal data and research regarding arts education; Require states to annually report the status and condition of arts education; and Improve dissemination of the results of projects funded through the Dept. of Education Arts in Education Programs. To learn more about the ongoing Senate hearings on Education Reform, click on the link above.
|
Thursday, April 01, 2010
Congress Urges the State Department to Support Arts Programming
In the FY 2010 appropriations conference report on Educational and Cultural Exchange Programs at the State Department, Congress urged the State Department “to expand exchange programs and activities in the visual arts, performing arts, film, arts education, arts management, and cultural studies.” The report goes on to say that “the funds for expanding arts programs and activities be awarded on a competitive and transparent basis in accordance with all applicable rules and regulations." For several years, OPERA America has advocated through coalition activity for increased cultural exchange opportunities and for increased transparency in how those opportunities are funded. Click on the link above to view the conference report.
|
|
|
Thursday, April 01, 2010
Health Insurance Reform, Overview
The American Society of Association Executives has written a concise overview of health care reform provisions.
|
|