{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://mikethompson.house.gov/newsroom/press-releases/thompson-buchanan-introduce-bill-remove-pga-tax-exempt-status", "Thompson, Buchanan Introduce Bill to Remove PGA Tax Exempt Status", "2023-12-14", "2023", "2023-12", "Democrat", "House", "CA", "Mike Thompson", "T000460", "mikethompson.house.gov", "mikethompson", "https://mikethompson.house.gov/newsroom/press-releases", "scraper", "This week, Reps. Mike Thompson (CA-04) and Vern Buchanan (FL-16) introduced a bipartisan bill making sports leagues that meet certain criteria ineligible for tax treatment as a business league under IRC Section 501(c)6. The bill was prompted by broad bipartisan concern at the reported merger of the Professional Golfer\u2019s Association (PGA) and LIV Golf, a nascent golf venture backed by the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF).\n\n\u201cThe proposed PGA-LIV merger raises serious concerns. Nonprofit tax treatment should be reserved for institutions and charities that help everyday Americans \u2013 not billion-dollar sports leagues backed by Saudi government money. I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to achieve that goal as the PGA and LIV continue their negotiations,\u201d said Thompson.\n\n\u201cWith billions of dollars in annual revenue and record profits streaming in, coupled with their looming partnership with Saudi Arabia\u2019s sovereign wealth fund, why in the world should hardworking American taxpayers subsidize the PGA\u2019s tax-exempt status? We should be supporting local charities on Main Street, not foreign-backed professional sports organizations that are not dedicated to benefitting the American people,\u201d said Congressman Buchanan. \u201cThat\u2019s why I\u2019m pleased to introduce this legislation with Congressman Thompson to end this special-interest giveaway and require the PGA to pay taxes, just like every other American business.\u201d\n\nIn June of 2023, a deal was announced to merge the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. The proposed deal would have the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) contribute \u201cits golf-related commercial business and rights (including LIV Golf), along with a significant financial investment, toward minority equity ownership of a new, collectively held, for-profit LLC.\u201d In the months since, few details of the agreement have been made public, including whether the merger would result in multiple entities with different tax treatments.\n\nThe legislation introduced by Reps. Thompson and Buchanan applies to sports leagues with annual gross receipts exceeding $1 billion during any of the preceding five tax years.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T01:14:16Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://mikethompson.house.gov/newsroom/press-releases/thompson-buchanan-introduce-bill-remove-pga-tax-exempt-status"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9665391407907009, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}