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WHEREAS, PA Senate Bill 4 (SB 4) and House Bill 173 (HB 173) seek to amend the Pennsylvania Constitution to make the Legislature the sole authority on what is a purely public charity; and,
WHEREAS, SB 4/HB 173 would prove to be harmful and unfair to taxpayers in Pittsburgh and across the state, and cripple our ongoing efforts to work cooperatively with large local nonprofit organizations; and,
WHEREAS, these resolutions further stack the deck against municipal leaders working to find common sense solutions between large non-profit institutions and the city we share; and,
WHEREAS, these bills take away the impartiality of the courts in determining non-profit status; they allow politicians to write the rules and establish definitions outside of a standardized process and pre-determined threshold; and,
WHEREAS, there have been no hearings and no legislative discussion of SB 4/HB 173's impact; instead, Senate and House leaders seem to be rushing the bill through via 11th hour maneuvers made without full hearings or accounting, threatening to damage the fragile relationships Pittsburgh and other cities statewide have built with our nonprofit partners; and,
WHEREAS, legislative leaders should hold public hearings - before any committee, House or Senate vote on the amendment - to allow municipal and nonprofit leaders to engage in public discourse about the far-reaching impact of lowering the threshold for determining public charities; and,
WHEREAS, a higher level of scrutiny is needed to define which nonprofits deserve tax-exempt status, not a lesser one.
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NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh urges the Pennsylvania Legislature to oppose Senate Bill 4/House Bill 173 when it comes before them; and,
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Will of Council shall be circulated to all members of the Pennsylvania House and Senate.