Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. is supporting a New York state bill that would strip New York nonprofits of their tax-exempt status if they used funds to support Israel's military and settlement activity, The New York Times reported.
The "Not on Our Dime" act was introduced before the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel and was aimed to prevent donations from subsidizing violence by Israeli settlers in the West Bank, Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani and state Sen. Jabari Brisport, who introduced the bill, said.
The bill was dismissed as a "nonstarter," the Times reported, but the state politicians are planning to revise the bill in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war.
"It is more important now than ever to hold the Netanyahu government accountable for endorsing and, in fact, supporting some of this settler violence that prevents a lasting peace," Ocasio-Cortez said at a news conference. "This bill will make sure that the ongoing atrocities that we see happening in Gaza and the West Bank, as well as the ongoing enabling of armed militias to terrorize Palestinians in the West Bank, do not benefit from New York state charitable tax exemptions."
Ocasio-Cortez told the Times there were organizations raising funds for extremist settlers, preventing peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
The bill would allow the state to sue nonprofits for at least $1 million and revoke their tax-exempt status, according to the Times. Palestinians and others would be allowed to sue the nonprofits if they say they were harmed by the violations, the Times reported.
Assemblywoman Nily Rozic, D-Queens, said she opposes the bill.
"I believe it intends harm on the Jewish community and its communal organizations," Rozic told the Times. "Instead, we should be committed to finding common ground with our colleagues here in New York, rather than focusing on legislation aimed at dividing Democrats.
Another assemblyman, Alex Bores, D-Manhattan, said last year the bill was "fundamentally unserious."
A similar bill has been introduced in Maryland.
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