The Latest Federal Update and Alumni Advocacy
Congress is currently considering a significant budget reconciliation package (H.R. 1), and the outcome will carry significant implications for higher education and the broader charitable sector. Here is what CASE is advocating for and how our new Alumni for Higher Ed campaign can help amplify your community’s voices.
Senate Makes Key Changes to House-Passed Budget Reconciliation Bill
The Senate Republican Tax Reconciliation Bill released on June 16 would make key changes to provisions in the House-passed bill impacting advancement offices at schools, colleges, and universities. Senate changes include:
- A significant reduction in the tax hike on private college and university endowments. The Senate bill would reduce the House’s proposed top rate from 21% to 8% for private colleges and universities with endowment values of more than $2 million per student. Additionally, the Senate bill also reduces the tax for institutions with endowment values between $750 million per student and $2 million per student to 4%, down from 7% and 14% in the House bill.
- A significant restoration and expansion of the charitable deduction for non-itemizers, increasing the caps from $150 per individual/$300 for joint filers in the House bill to $1,000 per individual and $2,000 for joint filers. The Senate bill would also make the non-itemizer deduction permanent versus a temporary, four-year provision, and it would be paid for by a 0.5% Adjusted Gross Income floor on itemized donations.
- A permanent extension of the 60% AGI limitation on cash gifts—a provision that is set to return to 50% next year. The House bill did not extend this provision.
- Removal of a House provision that would have taxed parking and other transportation fringe benefits that educational institutions and other tax-exempt organizations provide to employees.
Read CASE’s summary of key provisions in the Senate tax bill.
While the changes are a step in the right direction and reflect some of the changes CASE requested in a June 11 letter to Senate leaders, the Senate bill still includes a substantial increase in the endowment tax and a 35% cap on the value of itemized deductions, including the charitable deduction.
Senate GOP leaders hope to take up their full budget reconciliation package next week. Once and if the bill passes the Senate, it will have to return to the House for consideration. President Trump and Republican Congressional leaders are aiming to pass and sign the bill into law by July 4.
As the bill progresses, CASE will continue to urge lawmakers to remove the endowment tax and the 35% cap.
Introducing Alumni for Higher Ed
As higher education faces challenges in the U.S. and beyond, CASE has launched Alumni for Higher Ed, a strategic hub designed to help institutions and alumni associations channel alumni passion into purposeful advocacy. Alumni for Higher Ed offers institutions:
- Legislative updates: Access up-to-the-minute briefings on policy developments, including H.R. 1, so you and your graduates can engage with confidence.
- Customizable messaging templates and talking points: A carefully designed communication brief that can be tailored to your institution’s unique needs, as well as clear, concise talking points on key issues.
- Calls to Action: Links that you can share with your alumni community that allow alumni to weigh in directly with their Members of Congress on key issues.
We have developed this initiative in partnership with our broad CASE community, as well as leading education and charitable associations in Washington, D.C., ensuring a united front and amplifying alumni impact nationwide. We are particularly grateful for the feedback and support of the Council of Alumni Association Executives.
Alumni voices have already made an impact on the budget reconciliation bill. We encourage you to keep asking your alumni and supporters to weigh in with Congress.
Get Involved
- Stay updated on the Senate’s H.R. 1 deliberations by joining the CASE Advocacy Network online community.
- Urge your alumni and supporters to weigh in as the Senate considers changes to H.R. 1.
- Explore Alumni for Higher Ed today and mobilize your community.
About the author(s)
Brian Flahaven is vice president for strategic partnerships at the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), the global association for advancement professionals at all levels who work in alumni relations, communications, and development at schools, colleges, and universities. In this role, Brian oversees CASE’s global advocacy, corporate relations, fundraising, CASE@Campus training, and the Latin America region. Brian also serves as Chair of the Charitable Giving Coalition, a national coalition of public charities and private and community foundations, faith communities and other faith-based charities, and nonprofit organizations committed to expanding and preserving the charitable tax deduction in the United States.
Prior to joining CASE, Brian was the manager of government relations and public policy at the Council on Foundations. He also served as the first Public Policy and Philanthropy Fellow at the Council of Michigan Foundations.
Brian received his bachelor’s degree in political science, economics and history at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and his Master of Public Policy from the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan.
In 2016, Brian earned the designation of Certified Association Executive from the American Society of Association Executives. Brian was named to the NonProfit Times Power & Influence Top 50 in 2023.