Nonprofit Lobbying Rights

New Posts

Feb 8, 2016

Top 400 Taxpayers See Tax Rates Rise, But There’s More to the Story

As Americans were gathering party supplies to greet the New Year, the Internal Revenue Service released their annual report of cumulative tax data reported on the 400 tax r...

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Feb 4, 2016

Chlorine Bleach Plants Needlessly Endanger 63 Million Americans

Chlorine bleach plants across the U.S. put millions of Americans in danger of a chlorine gas release, a substance so toxic it has been used as a chemical weapon. Greenpeace’s new repo...

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Jan 25, 2016

U.S. Industrial Facilities Reported Fewer Toxic Releases in 2014

The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data for 2014 is now available. The good news: total toxic releases by reporting facilities decreased by nearly six percent from 2013 levels. Howe...

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Jan 22, 2016

Methane Causes Climate Change. Here's How the President Plans to Cut Emissions by 40-45 Percent.

  UPDATE (Jan. 22, 2016): Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released its proposed rule to reduce methane emissions...

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House Adopts Lobby and Ethics Reform Package

Jan 5, 2007 by Dana Chasin

In the first legislative act of the 110th Congress, the House adopted an initial set of "honest leadership" rules changes yesterday by a vote of 430-1. A floor vote on a second set of rules changes, covering "civility and fiscal responsibility," is expected today. Yesterday's package of rules changes provides the following:

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House and Senate Begin Ethics and Lobbying Reform

Jan 4, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

The House and Senate have recently convened, and as promised, the next two days will involve the adoption of new House rules that address ethics, lobbying, budget enforcement, and the disclosure of earmark sponsors. The text of the House rule changes can be read here. These new House rules include:
  • prohibiting members and staff from accepting gifts or meals from lobbyists or private organizations that have lobbyists.

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Court Decides Grassroots Lobbying Ads Not Barred by Campaign Finance Restrictions

Dec 22, 2006 by Kay Guinane

2006 started with a Supreme Court decision that allowed the Wisconsin Right to Life Committee (WRTL) to challenge the constitutionality of the McCain-Feingold rule that barred them from airing grassroots lobbying ads about judicial nominations 60 days before the 2004 election. The case was sent back to a lower court to decide if the facts in WRTL's situation entitled it to an exemption from the ban.

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Reform Rumblings

Dec 5, 2006 by Amanda Adams*

Given that the soon to be Democratic majority will have 10 unapproved spending bills, incoming House Majority Leader Hoyer was questioned on how Democrats will handle the 100-hour legislative agenda. The National Journal (subscription required) reported that Hoyer commentated that the 100 hours of legislating will take place before the continuing resolution expires. "One change in the Democrats' agenda is that the rules changes and ethics reforms promised by Democratic leaders will not be part of the 100-hour slate . . .

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Democrats Pledge Ethics Reforms

Two weeks after the election, attention has turned to considering what the results mean for government priorities and the likely impacts on the way Congress operates. Democratic leaders in the House and Senate are working on an agenda for the 110th Congress that includes ethics and lobbying reform proposals as part of their "100 Hours" initiative. As incoming Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said, "We will start by cleaning up Congress, breaking the link between lobbyists and legislation and commit to pay-as-you-go, no new deficit spending."

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Supreme Court Won't Hear Challenges to "Electioneering Communicaitons" Rules

Oct 3, 2006 by Kay Guinane

On Oct. 2 the Supreme Court denied petitions for review in two cases challenging restrictions on public communications naming officeholders running for re-election. However, another case, Wisconsin Right to Life v. FEC invovles similar issues and is winding its way through the federal courts.

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Statement: Law Meant to Regulate 'Sham' Issue Ads Instead Silences Citizens Groups

Sep 27, 2006 by Kay Guinane

On Sept. 25, 2006 the AFL-CIO, Chamber of Commerce, National Education Association and OMB Watch issued a statement about the impact of McCain-Feingold's "electioneering communications" rule on grassroots lobbying campaigns. The statement notes that Sept. 8, 2006 marked the beginning of a 60-day pre-election blackout period for broadcasts by nonprofits, unions and business corporations to air a message that simply asks citizens to contact representatives in Congress to vote yes or no on a bill.

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OpEd Says IRS Must Explain Its Actions in NAACP Case

Sep 15, 2006 by Kay Guinane

Prof. Frances Hill, a law professor at the University of Miami and Tax Policy Program Director at the Campaign Legal Center has called on the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to do a better job of explaining its policies and procedures that enforce the ban on partisan activity by charities and religious organizations. For the full text see OpEd for the Chronicle on Philanthropy. The official end of the Internal Revenue Service's investigation of the NAACP was as inexplicable as its beginning.

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More Documents from IRS Audit Released by NAACP

Sep 7, 2006 by Kay Guinane

The NAACP used the Freedom of Information Act to find out what was in the IRS file on the agency's investigation into alleged prohibited partisan speech by the NAACP. The NAACP released the first batch of documents to the public in May (for more see the May 31, 2006 version of the OMB Watcher To see all 1,715 pages in the second batch of documents click here.

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IRS Drops Case Against NAACP

Aug 31, 2006 by Kay Guinane

This morning (Aug. 31, 2006) the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) announced that, after an investigation that lasted nearly two years, the Internal Revenue Service has dropped its investigation into alleged prohibited partisan activities. The NAACP press release says: Investigation concludes Association did not violate tax laws or commit undue political intervention

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Resources & Research

Living in the Shadow of Danger: Poverty, Race, and Unequal Chemical Facility Hazards

People of color and people living in poverty, especially poor children of color, are significantly more likely...

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A Tale of Two Retirements: One for CEOs and One for the Rest of Us

The 100 largest CEO retirement funds are worth a combined $4.9 billion, equal to the entire retirement account savings of 41 percent of American fam...

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Blowing Smoke: Chemical Companies Say “Trust Us,” But Environmental and Workplace Safety Violations Belie Their Rhetoric

Large chemical companies a...

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Gasping for Support: Implementation of Tougher Air Quality Standards Will Require New Funds for State Agencies

New scientific research shows that the current levels of...

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