Rights of Government Grantees

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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Analysis of Changes to OMB Circular A-110: Extending FOIA to Federal Grantees

Last year, as part of the FY 1999 Omnibus Appropriations bill, legislation sponsored by Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) was enacted that effectively subjects federal nonprofit grantees to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), essentially overturning a 1980 Supreme Court decision limiting FOIA to governmental agencies. View the Original OMB Proposal(2/4/99) View OMB Watch's Analysis of the Original OMB Proposal (2/8/99) View OMB Watch's Comment On the Original OMB Proposal (3/31/99) View OMB Watch's Testimony on H.R. 88, a Bill to Strike the Changes to A-110 (7/15/99)

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Results: Survey of Nonprofits On Government Grants

During the month of May 2002 the Streamlining Nonprofit Grants Management Project conducted an online survey to determine priorities for nonprofits in implementation of the Federal Financial Assistance Management Improvement Act of 1999 (FFAMIA). To download a copy of the complete survey results in RTF format click here. To request a hard copy call 202/234-8494.

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Senate Finance Committee Passes Nonprofit Bill

The Senate Finance Committee passed the Chair's amended version of the CARE Act (S 1924, the Leiberman-Santorum compromise on the President's faith-based initiative) on June 18th by a voice vote. The main portions of the bill create new incentives for charitable giving and specify equal treatment of faith-based and secular nonprofits when applying for federal grants. It also simplifies the rules on lobbying by 501(c)(3) groups that use the expenditure test in the IRS rules, by doing away with the distinction between direct and grassroots lobbying.

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Streamlining Grants Management Project

See a summary of the law and the report to Congress with the agencies' timeline for implementation. The results of our survey of nonprofits indicates priorities for streamlining and gives examples of inconsistent standards and duplicative reporting. OMB Watch, the Urban Institute and GuideStar are co-sponsoring a project to give nonprofits input into how the federal government streamlines its grant application and reporting process. The Federal Financial Assistance Management Improvement Act of 1999 requires federal agencies to create a uniform process.

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Charitable Choice Advocates Continue Regulatory, Legislative Efforts

While the CARE Act has hit a snag in the Senate over the costs of tax cuts for charitable giving, non-tax portions of the bill dealing with federal grant rules for faith-based organizations could become even more controversial if the bill passes the Senate and goes to conference with the House.

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OMB Watch's Comments on e-Filing of IRS Form 990

Text of a letter to the IRS on implementation of electronic filing for IRS form 990. April 18, 2002 Internal Revenue Service 111 Constitution Avenue Washington, DC 20224 Attn: Theresa Pattara, T:EO RE: IRS Announcement 2002-27, Comments Regarding Electronic Filing of Exempt Organization Returns Dear Ms. Pattara,

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OMB Watch Letter Expressing Concerns With the CARE Act

Text of an OMB Watch letter to Senators Joseph Lieberman and Rick Santorum concerning the CARE Act of 2002 (S. 1924) April 24, 2002 Hon. Joseph Lieberman Hon. Rick Santorum United States Senate Washington, DC 20510 Re: CARE Act of 2002 Dear Senators Lieberman and Santorum:

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President Continues to Push Faith-Based Program

In a speech at the White House last week, the President noted that contributions to many charities have declined, and urged Congress to pass the CARE Act (S. 1924), the faith-based compromise bill sponsored by Sens. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) and Rick Santorum (R-PA) as one way to address the problem. The bill has incentives for charitable giving, including a deduction for contributions by nonitemizers, and provisions for equal treatment of faith-based and other organizations in the federal grantmaking process.

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OMB Watch Comments on Compassion Capital Fund Guidelines

OMB Watch responded to HHS request for public comments on guidelines for the new $30 million Compassion Capital Fund. Here is the content of our comments. OMB Watch March 29, 2002 Mr. Bobby Polito Administration for Children and Families, 6th Floor-West 370 L’Enfant Promenade, SW Washington, D.C. 20447 Re: Comments on Guildelines for Compassion Capital Fund 67 Fed. Reg. 8816 (February 26, 2002) Dear Mr. Polito,

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Permissible Lobbying for 501(c)(3) Nonprofit Organizations: Three Key Questions

This fact sheet answers three questions that nonprofits often ask: Is Lobbying by Nonprofits Permitted? Is Discussion of Policy Matters Considered Lobbying? Can Nonprofits that Receive Federal Grants Lobby?

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