National Campaign For A Peace Tax Fund

NCPTF once again met at the campaign offices in Washington, DC. Since this is the second time we have met on Monday and Tuesday to enable members of non-Christian groups to be part of our meetings, we talked about whether it was working. Three people that have been long-time board members weren’t able to attend due to work conflicts on Mondays and Tuesdays. Hashim El-Tinay from the Salam Sudan Foundation was able to attend our meetings and it is hoped that meetings on days other than Friday and Saturday will also allow Ken Giles, a member of the Jewish faith, to also attend in the future. In order to accommodate the three that were missing we have agreed to meet on Sunday afternoon and Monday. We are trying to be as inclusive as we can in hopes that we will have greater representation. We are planning on meeting again in May on a Sunday and Monday, the 16th & 17th.

We have agreed to continue contacting people who have made loans to NCPTF over the years. These loans were made to NCPTF at times when finances were tough to come by and were intended to provide NCPTF with resources that they could draw interest on. Unfortunately, much of the principle was used as well (bookkeeper’s error) and that created a bit of financial crisis for us a year or so ago. We have sent letters to the loaners asking if they would like to forgive the amount to NCPTF, give part of it, or have it sent back to them. We contacted a third of them and only one requested their money back and another even gave us another $2000. We will contact another third in upcoming months with the same options. Our financial condition is quite good at the moment since we have had several bequests totalling nearly $85,000. The world situation, mainly the Iraq War, has also caused many people to look for ways to respond to war in general, and NCPTF has seen an increase in donations as well. All of which means that we spent much more time talking about program and finding more sponsors for the RFPTF bill instead about financial resources. However, we also realize that finances will always be a top priority so we continue to find ways to make people aware of our project.

We did spend a good deal of our time looking into other ways that we might try to get the Peace Tax Fund legislation passed . . . talking about possible compromises we might be willing to make. One Congressman wanted to know if an IRS letter sent to COs telling them that their money wasn’t being used for war would be good enough. The Board laughed at that one. Others had to do with whether the President could make it an Executive Order (not this administration, certainly) but the Board again felt that this would not be permanent enough. We also talked about whether there were more compromises we could make with the bill itself. As we went through the Bill, line by line, we decided that we had already made all the compromises we could. So, we will continue to lobby and educate with that in mind. If, however, someone was willing to make it a rider on a tax bill of some sort to see if it could sail through, we would be open to that. At the moment there are approximately 35 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives. The Senate did not have a Peace Tax Fund Bill introduced this year.

The board approved a new position of Administrative Assistant, who would take on more of the day-to-day running of the office and fund-raising, which would free up Marian for more lobbying on the Hill. Originally Tim Godshall, a Mennonite from Pennsylvania was being groomed to fill this position, if he wished to. Tim has enjoyed his current position as program developer and office assistant that he is content to stay where he is. Tim has been such a great asset to NCPTF. I just learned a few days ago that Marian is on the verge of hiring an Administrative Assistant who will be introduced to us soon. Jennifer Beall continues as the grant writer and general writer. Greg Reagle has agreed to help out some as a volunter. Rachel has signed on for office help until the end of the year. Officers for the board for the coming year are: Steve Ratzlaff, Chair; Jeff Heie, Vice-Chair; Lyle Jenks, Secretary; and J.E. McNiel, Treasurer. The Mennonites are well-represented on the board through myself and Jeff . . . Tim Godshall is the Program Director and Marian Franz continues as Executive Director. Herb Myers, a long-time member of the board, resigned because of health reasons (both his and his wife’s).