2025 Public Policy

Sector priorities, supporting documents, and legislator contact information

Download KNN’s 2025 Public Policy Agenda

2025 Public Policy Priorities

Public-private partnerships for the public good:

Promote and support executive action and/or legislation that strengthens communities through a strong nonprofit sector and workforce, including addressing systemic problems with nonprofit-government contracting and grants at the federal, state, and local levels.

Advocate for legislation that addresses grants and contracting practices, including advanced payments, timely execution of agreements, prompt payment and interest penalties for late payments, as well as streamlined application and reporting processes.

One-page Summary: Kentucky Communities At Risk

Nonprofits are facing a workforce shortage crisis. In April 2023, KNN’s partners at the National Council of Nonprofits conducted a nationwide survey to secure the latest, comprehensive information about the nonprofit workforce. When nonprofits cannot hire enough employees to provide vital services, the public suffers. Data from this survey and others show that along with increased demands for services, there are longer waiting lists, reduced services, and sometimes elimination of services. When any of those happen, the ripple effects cannot be ignored: communities lose access to food, shelter, mental health care, and other vital services on which people depend. Click here for the National Council of Nonprofit’s Workforce Shortage Survey Report and click here for the Kentucky Summary of the Survey Report.

One-page Summary: Streamlining Federal Grants Act

Advocate for the General Assembly to establish a budgetary policy that requires the commonwealth to sufficiently fund their partnerships with the nonprofits the state has chosen to contract with for the provision of statutorily required services, as well intervention and prevention services – ensuring that effective, quality, uninterrupted services exist for the residents of the commonwealth and that nonprofits can maximize the full impact of taxpayer dollars.
Advocate for spending decisions that promote fiscal stability and growth in the Commonwealth, while also ensuring the work of nonprofits to serve Kentuckians and meet community needs is sustained and protected.
Advocate for rate increases and/or increased funding for nonprofits contracting with government to provide legally required services on behalf of the Commonwealth starting July 1, 2024.

Tax policy that empowers community solutions through nonprofits:

Support expanded, enhanced and new tax and other incentives for individuals and businesses, including a universal non-itemizer charitable giving tax deduction, at the federal and state level to encourage individuals to give generously to the work of charitable nonprofits. Actively oppose floors, caps or limits on existing incentives that would harm the sector’s ability to leverage philanthropic support.

One-page Summary: The Charitable Act

Oppose the imposition of taxes, fees, or payments in lieu of taxes (PILOTS) on tax-exempt nonprofits, as well as oppose requirements to collect and remit sales and use taxes from individuals receiving services from charitable nonprofits.

Support policies that maintain and, where appropriate, expand nonprofit exemptions from paying or collecting and remitting state and local property, sales, and use taxes.

Nonprofit advocacy rights and civic engagement:

Preserve the integrity of charitable nonprofits by supporting the tax-law ban on electioneering and partisan political activities and oppose restrictions on the advocacy rights of charitable nonprofits.
Oppose legislation, policies, and practices that prevent individuals from voting and exercising their civic responsibilities.

Nonprofit independence and ensuring public trust:

Support reasonable and non-burdensome regulations and policies that allow nonprofits to earn and maintain public trust through appropriate transparency. Oppose policies or legislation that impose increased costs, burdens, barriers, limitations, or liabilities on nonprofits – negatively impacting their ability to effectively accomplish their core mission.

Oppose policies and legislation that do not ensure that personal information about individual donors to 501(c)3 charitable nonprofits remains protected from public disclosure, while also ensuring that government agencies that regulate 501(c)3 charitable nonprofits and other exempt organizations have access to the information they need to protect the public and the integrity of the nonprofit sector by providing oversight of nonprofits.