Mission

To create a more humane society by bringing to the public domain the ingenuity, drive and know-how that animate a market economy.

About the Shamie Center

The Ray Shamie Center for Civic Enterprise will develop, articulate and disseminate information on how private initiatives can improve society. It will identify solutions that draw on the strengths and diversity of community and private institutions. It will seek to bring about a better society by promoting personal responsibility, educational achievement and economic opportuni\ty.

The Shamie Center (1) will identify private-sector programs that expand economic and educational opportunity; (2) identify government programs that encourage giving and volunteerism; (3) assess such programs for their comparative effectiveness in expanding economic and educational opportunity; and (4) assist policy makers in framing appropriate legislation.

The Shamie Center is predicated on the philosophy that government derives its legitimacy and purpose from the individual citizen. Government makes it possible to achieve societal goals that cannot be achieved through private means alone. However, government can often achieve these goals more effectively by turning to private initiatives and market solutions.

Areas of Inquiry

• Tax Incentives. The Shamie Center will identify and evaluate tax incentives for giving to charities that help the poor. Among these are federal and/or state tax credits for individual donations to charitable organizations.

• Mentoring. The Shamie Center will evaluate mentoring programs, particularly those that assist families with children at risk.

• Matching Donor Grants. Some high-income states, notably Massachusetts, rank low in charitable giving. The Shamie Center will identify methods of encouraging individual giving, such as state-based matching-grant programs for individuals who contribute to private charities.

• Consumer Choice in Human Services. The Shamie Center will study and evaluate the use of vouchers for day care, job training and legal services.

• Business Giving for Economic and Educational Opportunity. The Shamie Center will work with businesses that wish to expand economic and educational opportunity through vouchers and matching gifts.

• Individual or Family Development Accounts. Similar to Individual Retirement Accounts, Individual Development Accounts are dedicated savings accounts established for the working poor. Managed by community organizations and held at local financial institutions, IDAs can be used for education, training, small business ventures and home ownership. The Shamie Center will show how IDAs can be used to expand economic opportunity.

Services Available Through the Shamie Center

Shamie Center reports will be available to private organizations, government officials, legislators, opinion leaders and interested citizens. The Shamie Center will maintain a database on private initiatives for helping the poor. Consultation and research services will be available at the request of policy makers and service providers. In addition to monitoring legislation, the Shamie Center will provide information and testimony at the request of legislators and other policy makers.

Ray Shamie

The Shamie Center will carry forward the ideals and vision of the late Ray Shamie, renowned entrepreneur, political leader and champion of free enterprise. Mr. Shamie founded the Beacon Hill Institute at Suffolk University in Boston, Massachusetts in 1991.*

Supporting the Shamie Center

The Shamie Center will be housed within the Beacon Hill Institute. Contributions to the Shamie Center Endowment Fund should be made payable to: Beacon Hill Institute/Suffolk/Shamie Fund and sent to Beacon Hill Institute at Suffolk University, 8 Ashburton Place, Boston, MA 02108. All gifts to the Shamie Center are tax deductible under Section 501(c)(3) of the IRS code and will be used exclusively to support the activities of the center.

For more information, contact Frank Conte, BHI Director of Communications and Information Systems at 617-573-8750.

* The Beacon Hill Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization that applies state-of-the-art economic methods to the analysis of current public policy issues.

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TOWARD MEANiNGFUL WELFARE REFORM
Help the Poor by Giving Control over Welfare Spending Back to Taxpayers

The Next Step Toward Welfare Reform: A Manual for Enacting Tax Credits for Charitable Contributions (BHI White Paper submitted to the American Legislative Exchange Council's Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force, Denver CO, March 1998).

Compassionate Welfare Reform: Empowering Charities and Private Citizens (BHI Forum, Washington, D.C., December 1996).

The Compassion Tax Credit: A Family Advocate Program, Program Description, Executive Summary, September 1996

Giving Credit Where Credit is Due: A New Approach to Welfare Funding (December 1995) is a major study examining a proposal to offer federal tax credits for donations to charitable organizations. This proposal has one significant advantage over all others: It is taxpayer funded and taxpayer controlled.

Congressional Testimony by Prof. David G. Tuerck

Tax Credits for Charitable Contributions: Alternatives, Projections and Comparisons

"Rethinking Welfare in the Age of Devolution"
by David G. Tuerck, PhD & William F. O'Brien, Jr., PhD,
published in Perspectives on Law and the Public Interest, University of Richmond School of Law, Spring 1997

The Compassion Tax Credit: A Family Advocate Program, September 1996 (Executive Summary)

State Should Offer "Compassion Tax Credit," March 1997.

BHI ARCHIVE

Ray Shamie Prize for Civic Innovation