By Doug Donovan
Members of a newly formed coalition of religious charities visited Capitol Hill last week to persuade members of the Senate to back the charitable deduction as they draft recommendations for a massive federal tax overhaul that must be submitted by Friday.
Lawmakers are working to meet a deadline set by Sen. Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat, and Sen. Orrin Hatch, a Utah Republican, who last month wrote in a letter to their fellow senators that the only tax breaks they plan to preserve as they draft a revision to the code are those that are proven to “(1) help grow the economy, (2) make the tax code fairer, or (3) effectively promote other important policy objectives.”