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Associated Students of the University of Washington |
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Resolution in Support of the Stephanie Tubbs Jones Collegiate Housing and Infrastructure Act (CHIA) (H.R. 1547/S. 781) WHEREAS the purpose of the Stephanie Tubbs Jones Collegiate Housing and Infrastructure Act is “[t]o amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for collegiate housing and infrastructure grants” [1]; and WHEREAS “[u]nder the current tax code, colleges and universities may expend tax-deductible charitable contributions for the building, improvement or alteration of student facilities including dormitories, dining halls, study areas, libraries, computer labs, laundry facilities, physical fitness facilities, and social or recreational areas” [2]; and WHEREAS “[c]onversely, fraternity and sorority educational foundations are allowed to expend tax-deductible charitable contributions for the benefit of college students only in the grant is of a purely educational nature, such as libraries, scholarships, leadership programming, computer wiring, and study facilities” [2], which precludes these organizations from expending tax-deductible charitable contributions for the building, improvement or alteration of student facilities including dormitories, dining halls, laundry facilities and social or recreational areas, creating a significant disparity between University housing and other comparable nonprofit student facilities and housing; and WHEREAS: “[CHIA] states that a 501(c.)(3) organization will not lose its (c.)(3) tax-exempt status solely because it chooses to make housing and infrastructure grants to organizations (501(c.)(2) or 501(c.)(7) organizations, which should include all existing house corporations for fraternal housing) that provide not-for-profit housing to college students. The grant may be used for any purpose that a grant made to build a dormitory at a university could be used for, with the exception of recreational/physical equipment” [2]; and WHEREAS by eliminating the disparity between University housing and other comparable non-profit student housing, fraternal organizations can raise the money necessary to begin work on the at least $1 billion backlog of housing improvements, renovations and construction that will make nonprofit student housing safer, more energy efficient, more environmentally friendly and more viable as an affordable collegiate housing option nationwide [3]; and WHEREAS this inequity in the Internal Revenue is unfair and “[t]his legislative change would be the final step in leveling the playing field for charitable giving to all organizations that provide nonprofit housing, dining and educational facilities that benefit college students” [2]; and WHEREAS the unfairness of this disparity is demonstrated by the fact that, “[t]here are lots of schools where the institution owns some, but not all, fraternity housing. In those cases, the fraternity housing owned by the school enjoys the benefits of fundraising tax-deductible funds for improvements while similarly situated students living in the other fraternity housing cannot raise the tax-deductible funds needed to improve their own housing” [2]; and WHEREAS fraternal organizations are not the only organizations that would benefit from this change in the Internal Revenue Code “[o]ther campus organizations, including some religiously affiliated and traditionally minority organizations, will be able to use this change to fund their own expansion of grants for the benefit of their student members” [2]; and WHEREAS fraternal organizations house or provide other facilities for the use of more than 415,000 students nationwide, making them the “[...]nation’s largest non-profit student landlords outside of the host institutions themselves[...]” [3]; and WHEREAS “[c]ollegiate housing capacity and safety need to be upgraded. Life safety upgrades are the top challenge facing fraternal housing, as their smaller and older living spaces have twice the injury rate of other campus fires and significantly higher rates of property losses. 80% of fatalities in student housing fires since 2000 have occurred in off-campus housing such as fraternities and sororities. The simple step of installing automatic sprinkler systems saves lives--there has never been a fire-related fatality in fraternal housing that has sprinklers” [4]; and WHEREAS “[w]ithout a change in current law, fraternities and sororities cannot afford the safety upgrades required by state laws and local ordinances” [4], which could eliminate fraternal and other nonprofit housing as a viable and affordable collegiate housing resource; and WHEREAS increasing the quantity and viability of non-profit student housing outside of college campuses is essential for many universities, who, with the upswing in college enrollment need to affordably satisfy the housing needs of their students, and often can’t; and WHEREAS University of Washington housing capacity is 6,010 students; limited to the 5,459 students that can be housed in the residence halls, 370 students that can be housed in student apartments and 181 students that can be housed in married student housing (these numbers exclude the three privately owned apartment complexes run by University of Washington Housing and Food Services) [5]. This means that the University can only house 6010 out of its 42,933 students or about 14%. The long waiting lists for student housing that University of Washington Housing and Food Services compile demonstrate the inability of the University of Washington to meet the housing needs its students [6]; and WHEREAS fraternal housing at the University of Washington houses about 3,000 students or about 7% of the student population, helping to meet some of this unmet demand for affordable student housing [7]; and WHEREAS “[a]iding in nonprofit student housing has a disproportionate impact on helping students afford college,” and that, Fraternal housing is usually comparable in price to University housing [3]; and WHEREAS CHIA will benefit, “[...]1.) 115,000 college students who currently reside in our housing nationwide; 2.) 300,000 college students who use our facilities as a daily hub for academics, leadership training, social activities, and moral enrichment; 3.) more than 1.2 million students who will live in these housing units over the next decade; and 4.) hundreds of thousands of students now and in the future who live in other not-for-profit students housing owned and operated by other entities” [3]; therefore BE IT RESOLVED BY THE ASSOCIATED STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON: THAT the ASUW supports the Stephanie Tubbs Jones Collegiate Housing and Infrastructure Act [CHIA] [H.R. 1547/S. 781]; and THAT a copy of this legislation be provided to University of Washington President Mark Emmert, ASUW President Tim Mensing, University of Washington Office of External Affairs Federal Relations Director Christy D. Gullion, University of Washington Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life Director David Hotz and Assistant Director Cori Hammock, North American Interfraternity Council Chairman Bob Marchesani, National Panhellenic Conference Delegation Chairman Eve W. Riley and Housing Chair Donna Stallard, United States Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell and United States Representatives Jay Inslee, Rick Larsen, Brian Baird, Richard Hastings, Cathy McMorris, Norman Dicks, Jim McDermott, Dave Reichert and Adam Smith. History of Legislation 03/4/2010: Submitted for consideration |
Legislation ID: Date Submitted: Sponsor: Cosponsor(s):
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