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Panel urges support for bill creating voluntary state tax checkoff to benefit United Nations Least Developed Countries Fund
Summary
Climate advocacy witnesses asked the Joint Committee on Revenue to report favorably on S 19 22, a bill that would establish a voluntary personal income tax checkoff to direct donations to the United Nations Least Developed Countries Fund or qualifying nonprofits working with the fund.
Keith Bergman and Larry Yu of the Climate Reality Project’s Boston Metro chapter urged the Joint Committee on Revenue to report favorably on Senate Bill 19 22, which would permit voluntary donations from Massachusetts taxpayers to the United Nations Least Developed Countries Fund (UNLDCF) via a tax checkoff.
“By creating a voluntary check off on personal state income tax returns, Massachusetts residents would be able to contribute directly to those around the world most vulnerable,” Keith Bergman said, noting the UN fund has supported hundreds of projects with multibillion‑dollar grants and reached tens of millions of people.
Larry Yu characterized the proposal as a “win win win”: it would cost the Commonwealth nothing, allow voluntary contributions to support resilience projects in the world’s least developed countries, and could set a model other states might follow. Bergman and Yu cited UN figures in testimony that the fund has supported more than 423 projects with about $2.1 billion in grants benefiting some 74 million people.
Committee members asked how countries are placed on the UN’s least developed countries list and whether safeguards exist to prevent funds from being routed to actors that violate human rights. Witnesses said the UN maintains the list and that the UN‑administered facility (the fund) uses its own oversight mechanisms; they could not provide additional state‑level reporting details during the hearing.
A senator asked how nonprofit recipients would be vetted; testimony said the bill contemplates transfers either to the UNLDCF upon trustee request or to U.S. 501(c)(3) nonprofits whose mission furthers the UNLDCF. Committee members requested clarification on administrative processes, including who would review nonprofit requests and how the state treasurer would handle transfers.
Supporters asked the committee to help create a mechanism many residents could use to make voluntary contributions to international climate resilience programs. No formal committee vote was recorded at the hearing.
