NAVREF UPDATES – january 17, 2012

1.      Final Outcome on FY 2012 R&D Funding

2.      Latest Versions of NPPO Oversight Materials

3.      State Tax Refund Check Off for Missouri VA Research Foundations

4.      IRS Form 990 Tips

5.      2012 NAVREF Annual Conference – Save the Date!

6.      Survey of NPC Administrative Overhead and Indirect Cost Rates

On December 23, 2011, President Obama signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012, which provided FY 2012 funding for the VA medical and prosthetic research account at $581 million. Although this is the same level as FY 2011, it nonetheless represents a significant achievement. NAVREF members will recall that this account was initially slated for a $72 million cut. For additional details of the highs and lows of the FY 2012 budget/appropriations process, please click here.

Although the President’s FY 2013 budget won’t be released until after the “state of the union” address, the Friends of VA Medical Care and Health Research (FOVA) already has ambitious plans for its FY 2013 effort. These include coordinating FOVA’s funding recommendations with the Independent Budget, the comprehensive budget proposal prepared and championed annually by some of the major veterans service organizations; briefings about VA research for members of FOVA and Congress; and timely communications and meetings with staff members of the House and Senate Committees on Veterans Affairs and the Appropriations Subcommittees on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs. Please watch for future updates as the FY 2013 budget/appropriations process gets underway.

NAVREF appreciates that the VA considered NAVREF’s third set of comments on the three NPPO documents currently undergoing review in accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). As a result, a number of changes have been made to two of them, NPC Annual Report Template and the Internal Controls Questionnaire. Those NPCs that have not yet undergone NPPO site visits may wish to take a look at the latest versions.  These three documents may be found at the following links:

NAVREF encourages NPCs to call or email the NAVREF office when they are contacted by the NPPO to schedule your NPC’s review. We can share experiences to date, match you up with a similarly sized NPC that has already undergone a visit and otherwise support you through the review and follow up.

Sharon Feltman, executive director of the Missouri Foundation for Medical Research (MFMR) in Columbia, reports that legislation was filed on January 10 that proposes to establish a “Missouri veterans medical research trust fund” supported by voluntary donations of state tax refunds. 2011 Annual Conference attendees will recall that Sharon discussed plans for this initiative during the session on innovative NPC programs, and now the first step toward actuality has been accomplished. Congratulations to Sharon and her fellow Missouri NPC executive directors, Jim Hamilton in Kansas City and John Bley in St. Louis!

So that other NPCs may follow Sharon’s example, the text of the Missouri legislation is posted on the MFMR web site at www.mofmr.org as well as on navref.org (please click here for PDF). Sharon will also share the materials she is developing to educate state legislators about the bill. The Missouri legislature is in session until May, so stay tuned for updates and final passage before the end of that month.

In the November NAVREF Up to Date, we promised you a couple more tips on completing IRS Form 990. We know you have been anxiously awaiting them so here they are:

• NPCs using professional employment organizations (PEOs) such as Administaff or TriNet to lease employees should be aware of the instructions for Part V, Line 2a, and Part VII of the core form. Part V, Line 2a requires organizations to report the number of employees reported on a Form W-3 (Transmittal of Wage and Tax Statements) submitted by “the filing organization or reporting agents (such as PEOs or payroll firms like Paychex) of the filing organization.”

Additionally, the instructions for Part VII require reporting of compensation paid to “leased employees.” The instructions for Part VII state, “The organization should report employees of an employee leasing company or a management company as the organization’s own employees if such persons are common law employees of the filing organization under state law.” NPC executive director and other senior NPC positions are highly likely to fall within state definitions of common law employees, but NPCs may wish to check their state definitions for confirmation. As a result, if your NPC’s executive director and other key NPC individuals are employees of a PEO, and they fall within the state definition of common law employee, their compensation must be reported in Part VII.

• Schedule A requires organizations to check the box that matches the 501(c)(3) sub classification assigned to them by the IRS, and if necessary to complete the required supporting schedule. This subclassification can be found in the letter the IRS uses to notify organizations of its decision that they meet the requirements for exemption of federal taxation under section 501(c)(3) of the IRS code. These letters also assign a subclassification such as 509(a)(3) or 509(a)(1) and 170(b)(1)(A)(iii) or (vi). Even though an NPC may be best described as a “medical research organization operated in conjunction with a hospital [170(b)(1)(A)(iii)]” a number of NPCs have other subclassifications. As a result, it is important to know your NPC’s subclassification, to check the correct box on Schedule A, and to complete the supporting schedule in Part II if required for your NPC’s particular subclassification. Hint: Look at your IRS determination letter for verification, not last year’s Form 990.

By now you should have received the “save the date” postcard for the 2012 NAVREF Annual Conference (Sunday, September 9 through Wednesday, September 12) so please mark your calendar!

Our 2012 Annual Conference Co-Chairs Lea Lowe and Priscilla West are teaming up with Program Committee members Kerstin Lynam and Sarah Else to bring you an annual conference packed with timely and educational topics that will help enhance your nonprofit. If you have specific topic suggestions for the program, please do not hesitate to send an email to the NAVREF office (amurakami@navref.org) or to one of the co-chairs or Program Committee members listed below.

2012 NAVREF Annual Conference Co-Chairs:

• Co-Chair Lea Lowe [lea.lowe@va.gov], executive director of the Southern California Institute for Research and Education (Long Beach, CA) and member of the NAVREF Board of Directors
• Co-Chair Priscilla West [Priscilla.west@va.gov], executive director of the Veterans Education and Research Association of Northern New England (White River Junction, VT)

NAVREF Annual Conference Program Committee members:

• Program Committee Member Kerstin Lynam [klynam@vmrf.org], executive director of the Veterans Medical Research Foundation of San Diego (San Diego, CA)
• Program Committee Member Sarah Else [sarah.else@va.gov], executive director of the Iowa City VA Research Foundation (Iowa City, IA)

Look for the registration notice in May. For your budgeting purposes, the conference registration fee is expected to be about $845. Those NPCs wishing to begin making their travel plans now may go ahead and make their hotel reservations.

Location: Washington Marriott Hotel
1221 22nd Street, NW, Washington, DC 20037
Telephone: 202-872-1500
Website: http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/waswe-washington-marriott/?toDate=9/12/12&groupCode=navnava&fromDate=9/8/12&app=resvlink
For reservations, call: 1-800-228-9290; or 202-872-1500
Rate: $249 (Single/Double) plus taxes
Group Code: NAVNAVA
Room Block Cut-off date: Wednesday, August 15, 2012

If you have difficulty making reservations, please call the NAVREF office or send an email to Diana McCue at dmccue@navref.org.

On January 11, NAVREF sent all executive directors an email with a link to a survey on NPC administrative overhead and indirect cost rates. If you are an NPC executive director and didn’t receive the email, please contact Diana McCue (DMcCue@navref.org) in the NAVREF office and she will re-send it to you.

We would like to achieve 100% NPC participation in the survey in order for the results to be truly representative of NPCs and for valid comparison with the 2008 survey results. If you have not already responded to the survey, please take a few minutes to do so as soon as possible. It should take you less than 10 minutes to complete. Shortly after everyone responds, we will compile the results and will post them online. Thank you.

Home | About NAVREF | Professional Development | Library | Advocacy | Legal Resources | For Clinical Research Sponsors

last updated: 01/04/10

©2010, National Association of Veterans' Research and Education Foundation.  All rights reserved.