Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (Section 5) - All Filers Are Required to Complete This Page

9. Check if this filing amends a previously filed version of this report

LOBBYING ACTIVITY. Select as many codes as necessary to reflect the general issue areas in which the registrant engaged in lobbying on behalf of the client during the reporting period. Using a separate page for each code, provide information as requested. Add additional page(s) as needed.

15. General issue area code BUD

16. Specific lobbying issues

Fixes of Provisions in Families First Coronavirus Response Act and Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act):
 Paid Sick and FMLA Leave:
The recently enacted Families First Coronavirus Response Act" creates two forms of paid leave for workers impacted by the outbreak: 1) paid emergency Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave; and 2) paid sick leave. To help employers pay for these leave provisions, the Act created a refundable tax credit, which public institutions are not eligible to receive. Individual public institutions employ thousands of individuals across their campuses so this unfunded mandate will undoubtedly be an enormous expense likely to run into the millions of dollars. For example, the Illinois public four year universities, with more than 48,000 employees, estimated that the cost to comply with the leave mandate would be approximately $195 million. The University of Wisconsin-Madison, with about 24,000 employees, could be facing an estimated range of $34-$65 million in costs for the leave mandate.
 The paid sick and FMLA tax credit should be expanded to make public institutions eligible, and also potentially make large private nonprofit institutions eligible for the tax credit if they provide such paid leave.
 Employee Retention Tax Credit:
The CARES Act creates a refundable payroll tax credit of up to 50% of $10,000 in the wages paid to each employee by employers during the COVID-19 crisis. Employers whose operations were fully or partially suspended due to government orders related to COVID-19 are eligible for the credit. Private nonprofits are eligible for this credit but not public institutions.
 The Employee Retention tax credit should be expanded to make public institutions eligible.
Suspend Taxability of Scholarship/Grant Aid:
Since 1986, scholarships and/or grant aid used on non-tuition expenses like room and board have been taxed as a form of unearned income. Temporarily suspending the taxability of scholarship and/or grant aid would permit low- and middle-income students to retain more of this aid, which they rely on to pay for their college education. Suspending taxability of scholarship/grant aid is also important to shield the emergency grant aid to students provided in the CARES Act from being taxable. Congress allocated
this emergency student aid to help cover essential expenses like housing, food,
childcare, and technology due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To later subject the students
to an unexpected tax bill negates not only the benefit of the funds, but also the very
intent of Congress to help the most vulnerable students in authorizing this aid.
Temporarily Enhance Institutional Debt Service for Pandemic Response:
 Advance Refund Tax-Exempt Bonds:
Temporarily reinstitute the ability to advance refund tax-exempt bonds, which were
eliminated in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). This would permit colleges and
universities to take advantage of lower interest rates to reduce their debt service costs.
While this would potentially help all institutions, it may be particularly helpful to
teaching hospitals.
 Expand Debt Issuance:
The COVID-19 pandemic is harming public and private nonprofit institutions in
profound ways, which bond financing could help address in two critical respects: 1)
many of the enormous expenses and revenue losses being incurred now by institutions
are operating in nature and not currently eligible for any tax-exempt financing. It would
be extremely helpful for colleges and universities to access debt bond financing to
partially recover the operating costs of the pandemic. This would help higher education
institutions more quickly supplement lost revenue, absorb sizeable new COVID-19
related expenses, and amortize the costs over the long-term; 2) it would also help
support institutions to provide additional debt bond financing instruments for capital
infrastructure expenses, the kinds of projects that would inevitably generate and sustain
construction jobs for campus capital projects.
 Create a temporary Pandemic Response Bond program that would
allow both public and private nonprofit institutions to issue bond
debt for COVID-19 costs (incremental costs and lost revenue) and for
capital projects.
Temporarily Enhance Current Higher Education Tax Credits:
The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly and adversely affected traditional and
nontraditional students, particularly those coming from low- and middleincome
backgrounds. Just as Congress provided supplemental student grants in the
CARES Act, the American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC), and Lifetime Learning Credit
(LLC) should be changed temporarily to provide greater support for these students,
many of whom have already lost their jobs or are facing other economic challenges. The
AOTC is focused on undergraduate students, while an expanded LLC will be particularly
useful to students enrolling in courses to upgrade their skills and better integrate into
the changed economy.
 American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC) - possible options:
o Increase credit per year from $2,500 to $3,000;
o Increase refundability from 40% to 60%.
 Lifetime Learning Credit (LLC):
o Modify credit to cover 100% of the first $2,000 of the AOTC eligible
expenses; Currently, LLC covers 20 percent of up to $10,000 of annual
eligible expenses (maximum credit of $2,000).
Suspend private nonprofit institutional Investment Income Excise tax
(Endowment tax):
Private college and university endowments permanently hold charitable gifts from
private donors to support a range of purposes, such as student financial aid, teaching,
and research. One of the many challenges from the crisis will be the longer-term fallout
from the significant losses in the markets. This will not only hurt schools that rely
significantly on endowment revenues for operations, but also drive up student and
family need and affect both short- and long-term philanthropy. While repeal of this
perverse and damaging provision remains our clear goal, the coronavirus bills are
emergency in nature and developed around the principle that assistance should be
temporary. In line with these goals, we urge a suspension of the tax as well as extending
the suggested changes on carryforward and carryback of losses to include those affected

17. House(s) of Congress and Federal agencies Check if None

U.S. SENATE, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

18. Name of each individual who acted as a lobbyist in this issue area

19. Interest of each foreign entity in the specific issues listed on line 16 above Check if None

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Information Update Page - Complete ONLY where registration information has changed.

20. Client new address

21. Client new principal place of business (if different than line 20)

22. New General description of client’s business or activities

LOBBYIST UPDATE

23. Name of each previously reported individual who is no longer expected to act as a lobbyist for the client

ISSUE UPDATE

24. General lobbying issue that no longer pertains

AFFILIATED ORGANIZATIONS

25. Add the following affiliated organization(s)

Internet Address:

26. Name of each previously reported organization that is no longer affiliated with the registrant or client

FOREIGN ENTITIES

27. Add the following foreign entities:

28. Name of each previously reported foreign entity that no longer owns, or controls, or is affiliated with the registrant, client or affiliated organization

CONVICTIONS DISCLOSURE

29. Have any of the lobbyists listed on this report been convicted in a Federal or State Court of an offense involving bribery, extortion, embezzlement, an illegal kickback, tax evasion, fraud, a conflict of interest, making a false statement, perjury, or money laundering?
No Yes