A bill in the U.S. Senate and House would enable tax-exemptible donations to go towards improving fraternity and sorority houses.
House Bill 1548, also known as the Collegiate Housing and Infrastructure Act of 2005, would "permit organizations ... operated exclusively for charitable or educational purposes ... to continue to be treated as tax-exempt organizations so long as all of the active members of the recipient organization are full-time students at the college or university with which the recipient organization is associated."
Kevin O'Neill, a lobbyist for college fraternities and sororities with Patton Boggs in Washington, D.C., said the bill was first proposed in 2003 and passed in the House in September of that year but was unable to pass in the Senate before the session ended.
The bill was reintroduced last April and was referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means, he said.
The bill "is pending, but we're trying to get more cosponsors in both chambers," O'Neill said.
He added that the bill has 96 sponsors in the House, making up about 20 percent of the House, and 17 sponsors in the Senate.
Austin Durreur, press secretary for Rep. James Moran, D-VA, who is a cosponsor of the bill, said if the bill were enacted into the law, sororities and fraternities would reap most of the benefits because alumni contributions would be tax exempt.
Under current law, if a taxpayer makes a donation to something structural, it is not tax deductible, but if they make a donation that is philanthropic it is. Contributors would be eligible for the tax exemptions by giving funds to repair the house specifically, said Kate Madison, press secretary for Rep. Paul Ryan, R-WI, who is the sponsor of the House bill.
In addition to helping Greek organizations, O'Neill pointed out that many campuses have specialty ethnic, religious or cultural groups with housing, so this bill will also benefit those student organizations.
The passage of this bill could allow organizations to afford important improvements since, as O'Neill said, "too many fraternities and sororities do not have fire safety equipment yet."
O'Neill said he hopes this bill will encourage alumni to put in fire sprinklers, new roofs, alarm systems or, even give the houses additional capacity, so the houses can thrive.
"There will be hundreds of thousands of college students affected by this bill," he added.
Bills that languish in the Committee on Ways and Means often rely on the support of the constituents to move it forward, Madison said.
"If you're interested in a piece of legislation, writing letters [to your Congressmen] or inquiring about it is the most effective means of getting voices heard," she said.
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