News Release
November 2005

Issues Affecting Pennsylvania’s Nonprofit Sector the Topic of Town Hall Meeting

Senator Rick Santorum will discuss the CARE Act and Current Nonprofit Reform Legislation

Bethlehem, Pa., October 31, 2005—The Moravian College Comenius Center is co-sponsoring a Town Hall Meeting that will focus on important legislative, economic, and legal issues affecting the nonprofit sector in Pennsylvania. The program will be held on Monday, November 7 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in Foy Hall. It is sponsored by the Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Organizations (PANO), the United Way of Pennsylvania (UWP), and the Allied Art Fund (AAF).

Rick Santorum, United States Senator from Pennsylvania will discuss current nonprofit reform legislation, the CARE Act, and the Hurricane Relief Act. Santorum has served in the U.S. Senate since January 1995 and is the Republican Conference Chairman, the third-ranking Senate leadership position, and a member of the Senate Committee on Finance, and Chairman of the Subcommittee on Social Security and Family Policy. He leads the Senate’s efforts to increase charitable giving. He introduced the Charity, AID, Recovery & Empowerment (CARE) Act, about which he will be speaking.

Additionally the program will feature two panel presentations led by Joe Geiger, executive director of PANO; Stuart Weiser, president of AAF, and Tony Ross, president of UWP. A question and answer session will follow the discussions and Senator Santorum’s speech.

The Pennsylvania Nonprofit Town Hall Meeting is part of PANO’s on-going effort to advance the work of Pennsylvania’s charitable nonprofit sector through education and advocacy. “This is a chance for the entire community to ask questions and voice concerns directly to leaders of Pennsylvania’s nonprofit sector,” says PANO Executive Director Geiger. “This kind of exchange helps us better provide leadership on the critical issues that impact Pennsylvania’s nonprofits and the communities we serve.” Geiger will contribute insight on current state legislation affecting nonprofit organizations. He will also discuss how Pennsylvania employs more and more workers in the nonprofit sector (now about one in nine).

Weiser will present PANO’s 2005 Nonprofit Employment Study by Johns Hopkins University and speak about the rise of nonprofit arts organizations as a means of regional economic growth. Ross will lead the panel in addressing the role of charitable non - profit organizations in providing human services and promoting a healthier community. "Pennsylvania’s nonprofits are a major economic force in every region of the state,” said Ross. “The fact that the sector continues to grow is a clear indication of its significance, influence and potential.”

The meeting is free and open to the public. It will be held at Foy Hall on the Moravian College Priscilla Payne Hurd Campus, located at the corner of Main and Church Streets in Bethlehem. For registration information, contact Grace Gilbert at grace@pano.org or (717) 236-8584 or register online at http://www.moravian.edu/nonprofit.