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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Fate of Lobbying and Ethics Bill Uncertain

Jun 26, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

CQ ($$) reports that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, (R-KY) has blocked the appointment of Senate conferees on the lobbying and ethics bill. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) tried to name conferees Tuesday afternoon, but Republicans objected at McConnell's request, saying they would only allow action if promised a vote on a bill to require electronic filing of campaign finance reports (S. 223).

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Means-Tested Exemption from Lobbying Ban?

Jun 26, 2007 by Dana Chasin

True or False: Whether the laws of the United States governing the cooling-off period (currently one year) restrictions for former Congressional staffers to lobby their erstwhile offices apply depends upon the salary of these staffers. Answer: True (per Public Law 101-194). Now -- and no cheating -- staffers are exempt from these revolving door restrictions if they:

A. Were at no point one of the top-two paid staffers in a Congressional office
B. Received a total of $200,000 or more during their tenure as Congressional staffers

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Means-Tested Exemption from Lobbying Ban?

Jun 26, 2007 by Dana Chasin

True or False: Whether the laws of the United States governing the cooling-off period (currently one year) restrictions for former Congressional staffers to lobby their erstwhile offices apply depends upon the salary of these staffers. Answer: True (per Public Law 101-194). Now -- and no cheating -- staffers are exempt from these revolving door restrictions if they:

A. Were at no point one of the top-two paid staffers in a Congressional office
B. Received a total of $200,000 or more during their tenure as Congressional staffers

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Lobbying Language Must Stay Strong

Jun 21, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) received a letter yesterday from reform groups on her leadership involving recent House Lobby and Ethics reform legislation. A similar letter was sent to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV). The letter calls on the Democratic leaders to keep the strong provisions in their respective bills intact so that numerous changes do not weaken the bill during the upcoming conference report. The groups express concern for the bundling provision, maintaining the disclosure by lobbyists of their fund-raising events, and disclosure of lobbyists bundling contributions.

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Still Waiting: Campaign Finance, Lobbying, Ethics, and Now FEC Nominees

Jun 15, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

A BNA Money and Politics ($$) story reminds observers of the "pending campaign finance, lobbying, and ethics issues faced by the 110th Congress with no sure end in sight." The FEC nomination hearing highlighted this. Apparently, a Senate vote on the FEC nominees could still be weeks or even months away. If the three FEC recess-appointed commissioners are not confirmed by the end of this session of Congress in December, they will have to leave the agency, leaving the FEC in a presidential election year without enough commissioners to operate.

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Davenport v. Washington Education Association, A Forecast for WRTL?

Jun 14, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states can require public employee labor unions to get consent from non-members before using their dues for political activities and lobbying. Justice Antonin Scalia said the law does not violate the union's First Amendment rights. Now, many are eager to use this ruling to make predictions for the outcome of the Wisconsin Right to Life (WRTL) case which will be decided by the end of the month. And from the Washington Post, "Alito Calls Free-Speech Limits 'Dangerous' as Court Considers Cases."

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Next Step for Lobbying and Ethics Bill: House-Senate Conference Committee

Jun 6, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

BNA Money and Politics ($$) reports that the even though House-Senate conferees have yet to be named, the process is proceeding towards completing a final lobbying and ethics bill. The House Judiciary Committee and the Senate Rules Committee are working on comparing the two bills, focusing on the differences that need to be resolved. There are a few important differences, such as the absence in the House version of a provision to double from one to two years the ban on lobbying by lawmakers.

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Lobby Reform Bill Passes House without Grassroots Lobbying Disclosure

By a vote of 396-22, the House approved new lobbying reform legislation on May 24 when it passed the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 (H.R. 2316). The bill increases the reporting requirements for registered lobbyists, establishes a new electronic disclosure system, imposes new penalties for violating lobbying laws, and includes the controversial proposal to require registered lobbyists to report their bundled campaign contributions (H.R. 2317). The bill will now go to conference committee with a similar Senate bill that was passed in January.

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After Much Delay, House Lobbying and Ethics Package Complete

May 25, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

Yesterday House members overcame any internal disagreement to finally pass H.R. 2316, with a final vote of 396-22. During much of the debate yesterday Republicans were challenging the Democrat's promise of addressing political corruption. Judiciary Chairman Conyers accepted a Republican motion to recommit, expanding both of the lobby bills.

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House Set to Vote on Lobby Reform

May 24, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

The House lobby and ethics reform package is scheduled for a floor vote today after the Rules Committee reported out a single rule late Wednesday night that sets up separate floor votes on the overall lobbying package, H.R. 2316 and the bundling bill H.R. 2317. The committee did not allow debate on a number of amendments, including doubling the one-year lobbying ban on former lawmakers and staff directly lobbying their former colleagues. Dropping this provision has already brought very negative media attention. From a New York Times editorial yesterday :

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