Nonprofit Lobbying Rights

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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more news

"disclosure is shaping up as the key question"

Oct 5, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

BNA Money and Politics ($$) reported on a Heritage Foundation event that focused on the Federal Election Commission's (FEC) proposed electioneering communication rulemaking and the Wisconsin Right to Life Supreme Court ruling. "The June Supreme Court decision that struck down restrictions on corporate and labor union funding of political advertisements said nothing about disclosure of who is paying for ads, but disclosure is shaping up as the key question confronting the Federal Election Commission in the wake of the Court's ruling, according to experts debating the issue at an Oct.

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OMB Watch Files Comments on Proposed Electioneering Communications Rulemaking

Oct 2, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

Comments were due yesterday (Oct.1) on the Federal Election Commission's (FEC) proposed rulemaking to make its regulations consistent with the U.S. Supreme Court decision in FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life. An FEC hearing on proposed rulemaking is scheduled for Oct. 17, with the goal of having a final regulation in place by the end of the year. BNA Money and Politics ($$) reports that the comments focused on the main difference between the two alternatives the FEC proposed, whether to require disclosure of the funding sources for the exempt grassroots lobbying ads.

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Communicating With Congress and the E-Mail Surplus

Oct 2, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

In July we reported that the Congressional Management Foundation (CMF) is working on a project to attempt to solve a problem facing Members and their staff, excessive amounts of e-mail that often causes their systems to crash. Congressional staffers are frustrated with the amount of email while advocates are upset and worried that the correspondence they send to Members might not be getting any attention. Participants in online action campaigns often rely on organizations to research the issues, track legislation, and write correspondence, making participating quick and easy.

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Supreme Court Declines to Hear Case Challenging Restrictions on Legal Services Programs

Oct 2, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

The United States Supreme Court has declined a request to review the case Velazquez/Dobbins v. Legal Services Corporation which challenged the constitutionality of a federal rule that restricts access to lawyers for low-income people. Under the rule, the only way for a legal aid office to use non-federal dollars on certain work, such as representing clients in class action lawsuits or providing assistance to certain categories of legal immigrants, would be to establish a physically separate facility, with separate staff.

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Verizon Comes Close to Obstructing Political Speech and Activism

Sep 27, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

The New York Times first reported that Verizon Wireless rejected a request from NARAL Pro-Choice America to use Verizon's mobile network for a text-message campaign. Verizon held that, "it had the right to block 'controversial or unsavory' text messages" while the other wireless carriers accepted the program. Text messaging is increasingly being used as a powerful tool by political candidates and various advocacy campaigns. Supporters can be informed of various updates, calls to action, or even reminders to vote.

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Lobby and Ethics Reform Bill Becomes Law

On Sept. 14, President Bush signed into law the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act, S. 1. The new law amends some provisions of the federal Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) to make the relationship between lobbyists and lawmakers more transparent by requiring increased public disclosure of funds spent by lobbyists and of the actions of members of Congress. Because of rumors that President Bush would veto the measure, it was sent to him after Labor Day to avoid a veto while Congress was in recess.

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IRS Ends All Saints Church Investigation

Sep 25, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

The LA Times reports that All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, California has announced that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) investigation which began June 2005 has now been closed. The IRS will not revoke the church's tax-exempt status because of a 2004 anti-war, anti-poverty sermon delivered by its former pastor Rev. George F.

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Honest Leadership and Open Government Act Signed Into Law

Sep 17, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

The Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 (S.1) was signed into law on Friday Sept. 14. As BNA Money and Politics ($$) reports; "Bush was decidedly less enthusiastic. In a five-paragraph, written statement issued by the White House, the president said he signed the new measure despite misgivings about its overall thrust and specific problems with some key provisions." For more information on changes for nonprofits, click here, and for more background visit the OMB Watch lobbying reform and government ethics resource center.

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Lobbying and Ethics Bill Enacted

Sep 17, 2007 by Adam Hughes*

On Friday, President Bush finally signed the lobbying and ethics reform bill. OpenCongress has the story.

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Amendment to Overturn "Mexico City" Policy Approved

Sep 7, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

The Senate amended the State-Foreign Operations bill (HR 2764) to overturn existing policy, known as the "Mexico City" policy banning international aid for overseas groups that perform abortions or related services such as counseling. The underlying bill would have weakened the existing "Mexico City" policy by allowing the U.S. to provide condoms to organizations overseas, but the amendment passed with a 53-41 vote overturning the policy altogether.

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