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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Lawmakers Use Statements Written by Lobbyists, Is Congress Just Lazy?

Nov 17, 2009 by Amanda Adams*

The New York Times found that more than a dozen members of Congress used almost indistinguishable talking points on health care reform ghostwritten by lobbyists. Lobbyists representing a biotech firm drafted separate language for Democrats and for Republicans. "The lobbyists, employed by Genentech and by two Washington law firms, were remarkably successful in getting the statements printed in the Congressional Record under the names of different members of Congress."

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Study Reveals the Focus on Lobbyists Could be Flawed

According to a study conducted by OMB Watch and the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP), 1,418 federally registered lobbyists "deregistered" with Congress in the second quarter of 2009 (between April and June). This is a considerably higher rate than that seen in the average reporting period, when a few hundred lobbyists terminate their active status. The groups cautioned that this finding does not necessarily mean that the Obama administration's policies on lobbyists are leading to fewer outside influences on government policy, or that those policies are creating more transparency.

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Federal Lobbyists have Increasingly Terminated Their Registrations

Nov 3, 2009 by Amanda Adams*

OMB Watch and the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) have found that lobbyists have began terminating their formal registrations at significantly higher rates than usual. The OMB Watch-CRP press release states that there have been "1,418 'deregistrations' of federally registered lobbyists during the second quarter of 2009, a marked increase for any reporting period during all of 2008 and 2009.

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Hearing to Investigate Forged Letters

Oct 30, 2009 by Amanda Adams*

The House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming held a hearing on the fraudulent letters sent to Congress on clean energy and climate legislation. Chairman Edward Markey (D-MA) wanted to know why congressional offices were not notified until after the vote occurred, even though the existence of the fake letters was discovered beforehand. The letters were sent out by Bonner & Associates, a subcontractor hired by Hawthorn.

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Administration Defends Policies toward Lobbyists

Oct 23, 2009 by Amanda Adams*

On Oct. 19 the chairs for the Industry Trade Advisory Committees (ITAC) sent President Obama a letter expressing opposition to the announcement that registered lobbyists should be prohibited from serving on federal advisory boards. The group asked Obama to reconsider the guidance.

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NCRP Report Confirms Return on Investment in Advocacy

New research from the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP), a national foundation watchdog organization, concludes that public policy work is an effective strategy to address societal issues. A majority of grantmakers have traditionally steered away from funding public policy, grassroots advocacy, and other civic engagement activities. However, studies continue to show that advocacy work is vital to advancing a nonprofit organization's mission. The NCRP finding that there is such a great return on investment in advocacy could resonate with funders.

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Lobbyists Removed from Industry Trade Advisory Committees

Oct 7, 2009 by Amanda Adams*

Last week we noted the paradoxical new policy limiting the role of lobbyists on federal advisory committees. Reportedly, the Commerce Department and Office of the U.S. Trade Representative took this request very seriously and contacted companies and organizations with representatives serving on Industry Trade Advisory Committees (ITAC). With an Oct. 30 deadline, participants must certify they are not lobbyists, or a replacement must be found before their term is complete. About 132 people on ITACs are registered lobbyists.

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Lobbyists Serving on Advisory Committees – Where’s the Problem?

Sep 30, 2009 by Matthew Madia

The new White House policy aimed at ridding federal advisory committees of lobbyists raises more questions than answers, as OMB Watch discusses in an article released yesterday.

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Most Bundling Information Remains Undisclosed

Sep 24, 2009 by Amanda Adams*

After the Federal Election Commission (FEC) formulated a rule on reporting campaign contributions bundled by lobbyists, many were concerned that it was too narrow and would not quite capture very much information. Now, we see those points were not misguided. The situations under which a member of Congress is legally required to disclose a lobbyist's fundraising are limited.

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Administration Discloses Ethics Waivers Granted by Federal Agencies

Sep 9, 2009 by Amanda Adams*

In a blog post, the White House announced the administration has now consolidated and released ten ethics waivers granted by federal agencies. The waivers made the appointees exempt from conflict of interest and revolving door restrictions set forth in the President's Executive Order.

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