Fight looms as Pa. Senate advances charities amendment

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A party-line vote in the Pennsylvania Senate today advanced a proposed constitutional amendment closer to a statewide vote and a potentially acrimonious campaign leading up to the November election between the interests of nonprofit institutions and financially struggling cities.

The vote, 30-19, in the Republican-controlled Senate gave the chamber’s final approval to a resolution to change the Pennsylvania Constitution to let lawmakers, not courts, decide which organizations qualify as charities and can escape paying certain taxes.

Approval from the Republican-controlled House in the coming months is necessary to put the proposal on November’s statewide ballot. The vote could carry significant financial implications for the nonprofit institutions — universities, hospitals and health systems, religious institutions and others — and the cities and towns where many of them are based.

Nonprofits have urged lawmakers to advance the proposal, while municipal officials and public-sector unions have opposed it.