The state Legislature sent a bill to Gov. Deval Patrick Tuesday that would delay until Jan. 1, 2010, the implementation of a portion of a new ethics law related to lobbying activities on Beacon Hill.

Nonprofit advocates are among those who have called the lobbying portion of the legislation unfair and excessively expensive for organizations whose employees communicate with politicians and political offices but are not technically lobbying. Under the new ethics law, even certain types of incidental lobbying would trigger registration requirements, which are expensive and create administrative burdens, said nonprofit advocates.

Nonprofit leaders are pressing lawmakers to back a plan offered by Treasurer Tim Cahill to allow them to offer their employees a retirement plan administered by the state treasury.

Citing the oft-repeated fact that nonprofit workers make up 14 percent of the state’s total workforce, David Magnani, head of the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network, said retirement protection for nonprofit employees “has gone the way of the buffalo.”

“Nonprofits cite a lack of retirement and other benefits as a key reason they have trouble recruiting top talent,” he said, adding that less than one in five nonprofit employees have any retirement plan.

Massachusetts has prided itself on being at the forefront of healthcare reform on a state level, and is often used as a case-study for possible national reform efforts.  With the national debate on healthcare raging, Massachusetts may still need to lead the way.  But even in Massachusetts, the issue of increasing healthcare costs effects individuals, [...]

Nonprofit organizations with and without retirement plans will benefit from House Bill 78, designed to establish a state-managed retirement plan for these groups. Retirement plans managed by the state treasurer will cut costs for nonprofits looking to set up a retirement plan and will help nonprofits gain access to lower fees and increased investment power. [...]