Public Charge and Johnson Amendment Issues Still Alive

In 2018, NHSA followed the administration’s proposed Public Charge rule closely. We participated in the Protecting Immigrant Families Coalition, submitted public comments to the Department of Homeland Security opposing the rule in its entirety, and provided guidance for organizations to do the same. In all, over 210,000 comments were submitted by the December 10 deadline, making it clear that access to programs that provide food, healthcare, housing, and the like are imperative to the well-being of immigrants and our communities as a whole.

As the 115^th Congress came to a close, the Senate chose not to take up the House-passed version of the year-end tax bill. The legislation, which would now need to be reintroduced in the new Congress, would have included a provision to all but repeal the Johnson Amendment. NHSA joined the National Council of Nonprofits and four other national organizations in a letter to Congress expressing strong opposition to the anti-Johnson Amendment language.