MA Court enjoins overhead cap on federal grants

A federal District Court in Massachusetts (Brian E. Murphy) has preliminarily enjoined the Department of Defense from imposing a 15% overhead cap on research grants.  “The Government has, for the fourth time, purported to announce a policy that has consistently been deemed unlawful, without acknowledgment of its apparent illegality and without any attempt to structure the policy in a manner that fulfills the established requirements of law,” the Court said in the introduction to its opinion.

University endowment tax receipts drop

Taxes received on endowment income of large private colleges and universities dropped significantly in 2024, the IRS has reported in a recent Statistics of Income release. After rising steadily from $68 million in 2021 to $380 million in 2023, receipts fell to $169 million in 2024. Only 45 institutions reported paying the taxes in 2024, compared to 58 in 2023.

Nonprofit conference center is exempt as religious employer

A nonprofit conference center operated by a limited liability company formed to promote religious purposes is considered a religious employer and is exempt from coverage of state anti-discrimination statutes in employment, a California appeals court has ruled.

MD Court says DOE letter, DEI Order unconstitutional

A federal District Court in Maryland (Stephanie A. Gallagher) has ruled that the Department of Education’s “Dear Colleague” letter to states and school districts receiving governmental funding, which required recipients to comply with the Administration’s requirements to eliminate programs supporting diversity, equity and inclusion, is unconstitutional and illegal.  The Court had previously stayed the enforcement of the February 14 letter (See Nonprofit Issues®, Vol. XXXV No.

Non-religious Nonprofit May Seek Protection Under Religious Freedom Restoration Act

Court of Appeals says corporation may argue religious infringement in denial of approval for supervised illegal drug use program

A non-religious nonprofit corporation may argue that its religious freedom has been infringed by the government’s denial of approval for a program to address the abuse of opioids through overdose prevention services, including supervised illegal drug use, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.  It has returned the case to the District Court in Philadelphia to determine whether the denial violates the corporation’s religious freedom under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

MD Court enjoins dismantling of Americorps

Another federal District Court in Maryland (Matthew J. Maddox) has enjoined the further dismantling of Americorps, saying that it could not be bound by a separate case currently stayed by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.