Advocacy

County Budget Savings Plan – Our Nonprofit Convening

2017-12-22T11:02:05-05:00January 2nd, 2017|Advocacy|

At the end of November, County Executive Leggett sent a memo to the County Council announcing that a FY18 budget savings plan would need to be implemented with 2% cuts. That plan is due to be delivered to the Council before the end of the month.
Nonprofit Montgomery will be monitoring the plan, and working to inform Councilmembers of the nonprofit sector’s concerns related to it. We look forward to working side-by-side with the Council to implement savings while protecting the most vulnerable residents of Montgomery County.

To help Nonprofit Montgomery gather input from nonprofits, please join us on Wednesday, January 10 from 2-4pm for a Nonprofit Convening about the Savings Plan.  

This packet from the Council’s December 12 session includes County Executive’s Leggett’s memo on page 32 of the supporting materials. This also contains valuable information about budget pressures that will not only impact FY18 and a savings plan, but future budget years as well.

Link:
Montgomery County Must Revise Current Budget Due to Unexpected Revenue Shortfall (Bethesda Magazine, December 4, 2017)

Join us on January 10, 2018.

County Council Hearing Dates of Interest

2017-06-29T14:16:42-04:00December 26th, 2016|Advocacy, Nonprofit Resources|

  • GO: 1/19, 9:30am, Office of Procurement, OLO Report 2017-3, Mapping the Montgomery County Procurement Process, Taxation – Property Tax Credit – Elderly Individuals and Veterans
  • PHED/HHS/PS: 1/19, 2:00pm, Youth workforce development
  • PS: 1/23, 9:30am, Animal Services Division, Update from Sheriff
  • HHS/ED: 1/26, 2:00pm, Briefing – New York City’s move to Universal Pre-K
  • GO: 1/30, 10:30am, Spending Affordability Guidelines for the FY18 Capital Budget and other general CIP assumptions, Credit to Offset Certain Income Tax Revenues – Amendments
  • GO: 2/9, 9:30am, Spending Affordability Guidelines for FY18 Operating Budget, Bill 31-16, Taxation – Urban Agricultural Tax Credit

Advocacy Updates

2017-06-29T14:16:44-04:00December 11th, 2016|Advocacy|

Minimum Wage Council Session Updates
Your Input Needed Now
On Wednesday, December 7, the Council HHS Committee held a worksession on Bill 12-16, which proposes to increase the minimum wage in the county to $15 by 2020. Councilmembers in attendance included the members of the Health & Human Services Committee: George Leventhal, Roger Berliner, and Craig Rice, as well as Nancy Navarro, Sidney Katz, Tom Hucker, Nancy Floreen, and Marc Elrich.

The active discussion included discussion of the potential impact on nonprofits. See pages 17 and 26-27in the packet. You can watch the hearing on the Council website. Bethesda Beat summarized the meeting here.

While Nonprofit Montgomery shared our survey results with the Council, those results reflected the views of only 22 of our 130 members. In order to ensure that nonprofits can continue to be funded appropriately to maintain current service levels, Councilmembers need to be aware of the potential cost impacts.

We will continue to gather data from you and share it with them as they continue deliberation prior to a vote in early 2017. Because there is limited time to share this information, please respond to the surveyby December 15 if you haven’t already, and also contact Councilmembers directly. 

With five co-sponsors, the bill already has majority support on the Council. From the initial survey, the majority of the 22 Nonprofit Montgomery members who responded support the legislation, or support it if mitigation for nonprofits is included. As deliberation on Bill 12-16 proceeds, Nonprofit Montgomery will continue to encourage the Council to pay attention to the impact of the legislation on nonprofit organizations’ bottom lines, and to consider avenues for mitigation.
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County Council Hearing Dates of Interest

2017-06-29T14:17:49-04:00December 7th, 2016|Advocacy, Nonprofit Resources|

HHS: Human Rights and Civil Liberties – County Minimum Wage – Amount – Annual Adjustment (12/7, 9:30am)

HHS/GO: County government event sponsorship  (12/12, 9:30am)

GO: Taxation – Property Tax Credit – Elderly Individuals and Veterans (12/12, 11am)

Recently, the County Council launched a revision to its website to allow users to access Council agendas and committee meetings in one place. The site also provides access to informational packets, links to live meetings, and archived videos of past meetings. Users can click Council Meeting Portal to get to the right place.

Nonprofit Montgomery’s Minimum Wage Survey Results

2019-01-07T15:21:43-05:00December 6th, 2016|Advocacy|

The Council Bill 12-16 (to increase the minimum wage to $15 by 2020) is still under consideration with a Council HHS Committee worksession taking place on December 7 at 9:30am. We will share the results of this survey with Council staff as they complete their research. Please attend tomorrow’s worksession if you are interested in this issue.

Nonprofit Montgomery has not taken a stand on the minimum wage increase.  At Council public hearings in the spring we shared broad sector perspectives voiced by our advocacy committee, members and similar advocacy groups across the country.  These include funding challenges related to wage increases, especially for especially for organizations reliant on county, state and federal funding.

Nonprofit Montgomery put out a survey about the impact that a minimum wage increase to $15 by 2020 might have on local organizations. Some highlights:

  • Six of the 22 respondents indicated they would experience increased personnel costs directly attributable to the minimum wage increase
  • Seven organizations described potential service disruptions if funding doesn’t increase to help address wage increases.
  • When asked if a minimum wage increase would improve clients’ lives, responses were divided. Reasons for choosing no or unknown: It may lift clients out of poverty but may remove their eligibility for services and possible service disruptions.
Click here to see more results. There’s still time to join Nonprofit Montgomery’s Advocacy committee and play a part in developing and delivering our advocacy agenda. The monthly conference call is on the second Wednesday of each month at 3pm. Join the call to make your voice heard as we advocate for nonprofit organizations and the residents we serve.

County Executive Budget Forums—Dates Announced

2017-06-29T14:17:50-04:00December 5th, 2016|Advocacy, Events|

Nonprofit leaders and staff, board members, and volunteers are strongly encouraged to attend these public forums on the county’s operating budget to share insight into community needs, and to hear the County Executive’s priorities about the Fiscal Year 2018 (FY18) Operating Budget.

January 9, 7pm, Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center
January 11,7pm, Eastern Montgomery Regional Services Center
January 18,7pm, Mid-County Community Recreation Center
January 25, 7pm, Silver Spring Civic Building
January 30, 7pm, BlackRock Center for the Arts

The County Executive will announce his Recommended FY18 Operating Budget on March 15 and will approve it by the end of May.

Important Minimum Wage Survey

2017-06-29T14:17:50-04:00November 20th, 2016|Advocacy|

The Council Bill 12-16 is still under consideration with a Council HHS Committee worksession taking place on December 7 at 9:30am. We will share the results of this survey with Council staff as they complete their research. Please attend the worksession if you are interested in this issue.

Please answer the following questions about the impact that a minimum wage increase to $15 by 2020 might have on your organization (Council Bill 12-16).

Nonprofit Montgomery has not taken a stand on the minimum wage increase, but after consultation with our advocacy committee, members, and similar sector advocacy groups across the country, during public hearing in the spring, we shared broad sector perspectives about funding challenges related to wage increases, especially for organizations reliant on county, state and federal funding, with the County Council.

These perspectives included practices from other jurisdictions with minimum wage increases. For example, a wage increase should be passed with a commitment to renegotiate contracts when costs of delivering services rise. And, in the interim between the wage increases and contract renegotiation, to create a county-funded mitigation fund to help organizations make up the difference.

The results of this survey will help to inform Nonprofit Montgomery’s next steps as the council deliberates this bill. Please fill it out by November 30.

Advocacy Alert: County Council Updates

2019-01-07T15:21:43-05:00November 7th, 2016|Advocacy|

On November 14, the HHS Committee (Councilmembers Leventhal, Berliner, and Rice) will discuss funding nonprofits through grants vs. base budget. This could potentially address organizations that have received Council Grants funding for multiple years to deliver essential services. Prior to the worksession, Nonprofit Montgomery will send out information about base budget funding and link to the legislative packet. If this is a topic that interests you, consider attending the worksession.

It is likely that Bill 12116, proposing an increase of the county’s minimum wage to $15, will be back on the council calendar in early December. Please share your perspective on this legislation with Councilmembers. As the next packet is being prepared, information about how this will impact your organization and the clients you serve will help provide valuable background information to Councilmembers.

As a reminder, Nonprofit Montgomery has not taken a position on the minimum wage, but has proactively educated Councilmembers about the impact that minimum wage increases may have on nonprofit budgets and service delivery without a commensurate increase in funding to organizations delivering services. We have shared information about the City of Seattle’s experiences in creating a nonprofit mitigation fund when they increased the minimum wage to $15/hour, and have alerted Councilmembers and staff to a University of Washington study that is being released soon about how Seattle nonprofits were impacted by the wage increase. We will continue to monitor and educate with regards to this issue, but please share your own organizational perspective.

Advocacy Update

2017-06-29T14:17:52-04:00October 26th, 2016|Advocacy|

On October 13, the Council’s Government Operations and Health and Human Services Committees held a joint work session that discussed the Council grants process. They discussed short-term changes to the process. Click here to see the packet for the work session.

The resolution for the FY18 Council grants has been introduced for a vote on November 1. The resolution packet, which incorporates the changes made in the work session, can be foundhere. To watch the archived video, click here. On November 14, the HHS Committee will discuss grants vs. base budget and a DHHS return on investment calculator.

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