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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527 Turns to Wisconsin Right to Life Case for Support

Feb 22, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

Relying on the Wisconsin Right to Life (WRTL) decision, a newly formed 527 committee argues that they can broadcast their ads, and that under WRTL the pieces are issue advocacy. The 527, the American Leadership Project (ALP), claims that it will not engage in express advocacy and will focus its efforts on issues that are important to the middle class such as the economy. Meanwhile, Bob Bauer (also Senator Barack Obama's lawyer) at moresoftmoneyhardlaw.com argues that their actions violate federal campaign finance law and the group should be considered a political committee.

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Supreme Court Still Not Decided whether it will Review Citizens United Case

Feb 20, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

The U.S. Supreme Court did not consider the Citizens United case during its February 15 conference, and now a decision on whether the Court will review the challenge to Federal Election Commission (FEC) rules will wait until February 22. Citizens United is a 501(c)(4) organization claiming that television ads for its film, Hillary: The Movie, should not be subject to donor disclosure requirements under FEC rules.

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SpeechNow.org to File Lawsuit

Feb 14, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

As expected after the Federal Election Commission (FEC) issued a draft advisory opinion in January that SpeechNow.org cannot accept unlimited contributions from donors, the group plans to now file a federal lawsuit. SpeechNow.org is challenging the campaign finance law that requires that they become a "political committee" in order to advocate for or against candidates.

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Lawsuit Challenging Lobbying Disclosure Law Could Be Decided by April

Feb 12, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

BNA Money and Politics ($$) reports that the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) lawsuit that is trying to block enforcement of a disclosure provision of the new lobbying and ethics law, has in fact been put on a fast-track schedule that could lead to a court decision before the first disclosure reports are due on April 21. Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said in a court order filed Feb. 8 that a briefing schedule was agreed on that ends in March. All parties agreed to convert the application for a preliminary injunction to a request for a decision on the merits.

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Should the IRS Facts and Circumstances Test be Reevaluated after new FEC Electioneering Rule

Feb 12, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

An article in BNA Money and Politics ($$) addresses "whether the Internal Revenue Service [IRS] needs to focus so heavily on facts and circumstances as the primary test to determine if the groups have violated prohibited political activity rules" and the complexities that arise given the new Federal Election Commission (FEC) electioneering communications rule that allows nonprofits to broadcast issue ads that mention a candidate during periods before an election as long the funding of the ads are disclosed.

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National Association of Manufacturers Sues to Block Member Disclosure Law

Feb 6, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) has filed a lawsuit, National Association of Manufacturers v.

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SpeechNow.org May challenge a Campaign Finance Law Provision

Jan 25, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) released a draft advisory opinion detailing that the newly formed group, SpeechNow.org, cannot accept unlimited contributions from donors if it wants to advocate for or against candidates for federal office.

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501(c)(3) Organizations and Nonpartisan Voter Education Activity

Jan 24, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

An article in the Chronicle of Philanthropy ($$) discusses the difficulty 501(c)(3) nonprofit groups face if they want to know how candidates stand on issues. They must confidently understand the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) rules prohibiting charities from engaging in partisan politics. Unfortunately out of fear, many groups simply do not get involved even though it can be done in a legal manner.

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Latest Challenge to McCain-Feingold

Jan 16, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

Last year the Supreme Court ruled that genuine issue ads could not be prohibited during the periods before a federal election, but the Federal Election Commission (FEC) maintained that such ads must still contain a political disclaimer and be the subject of FEC reporting requirements which disclose the contributors to the group running the ads. An organization Citizens United challenged these disclosure provisions, arguing that since the ads are genuine issue ads, they cannot be subject to any regulation. In response, the D.C.

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The Average Grade for Congressional Web Sites was a "D"

Jan 16, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

The ability to communicate with elected officials is vital to a healthy democracy and civil society. The easiest way to have any form of communication is over the internet, which can best be utilized as a two-way communication between legislative office and constituent. Unfortunately, the websites of many lawmakers are below average. The Congressional Management Foundation (CMF) officially released its "Gold Mouse Report", acknowledging Member, committee and leadership offices that best use their Web sites as constituent communication tools.

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