Nonprofit Speech 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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Mitt Romney Wants to Repeal McCain-Feingold

Mar 8, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

Presidential contendor Mitt Romney has publicly stated that he is opposed to the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, calling for its repeal. Romney believes it restricts free speech, and increases an appeal to regulate grassroots organizations. The end of his press releases references the Wisconsin Right To Life case. The blog www.moresoftmoneyhardlaw.com has an interesting response. From Romney's press release:

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Senate Finance Committee Seeks Information on Nonprofit Abuses

Mar 8, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) and Finance Ranking member Charles Grassley (R-IA) sent letters to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Mark Everson and IRS Chief Counsel Donald Korb asking for "an updated list of the newest, biggest tax avoidance scams — including those using nonprofit groups - that deserve the committee's attention." The Senators are asking that they receive the document by April 1. The letter also referenced the IRS 2007 "Dirty Dozen", a listing of the top tax scams.

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Congressional Philanthropy Caucus

Mar 7, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

The Examiner reports that a new bipartisan House caucus will be formed specifically committed to issues affecting the nonprofit sector. Representative Robin Hayes (R-NC) will co-chair the first Congressional Philanthropy Caucus, and hopefully an identical group will form in the Senate. This announcement coincided with the Council on Foundations' annual "Foundations on the Hill", an event where grantmakers can meet members of Congress. This appears to be an excellent opportunity where the issues impacting the sector can reach Congress. The blog Inside Philanthropy also responded to this news.

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Distortions and Misinformation Continue to Abound in Grassroots Lobbying Disclosure Debate

WASHINGTON, March 7, 2007—Public statements by opponents of grassroots lobbying disclosure, which would bring transparency to big money grassroots lobbying campaigns, have misled Americans by inaccurately claiming that potential proposals are intended to silence criticism of Congress and are "a plot by Washington insiders" to shut out diverse viewpoints.

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Disclosure Bill Faces Opposition

Mar 6, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

The Hill reports how strongly the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) opposes H.R.984, the Executive Branch Lobby Reform Act. The organization views the measure as a threat to a citizen's right to petition the government. The bill would require agency officials to document all communications from any private party that sought to influence a public policy issue. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee unanimously passed the bill, and now NRLC is engaging in a full blown campaign warning that the public's ability to weigh in on public policy will be jeopardized.

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House Starts Moving on Lobbying and Ethics Reform

Lobbying and ethics rules changes are rapidly becoming a focal point of the 110th Congress. Since the Senate passed the Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act of 2007, the action has moved to the House, where a bill on executive branch lobbying recently passed the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and a Judiciary subcommittee addressed possible changes to the Senate bill.

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FEC Fines 527 Group

Mar 2, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) has concluded that the Progress for America Voter Fund violated campaign finance law by spending more than 30 million on ads and mailings supporting President Bush. The group will pay the FEC $750,000, the largest fine in FEC history. The FEC continues to rely on fines placed on other 527 organizations as a way to clarify what campaign activities 527s are allowed to perform. Read the FEC press release here.

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Financial Reporting of Nonprofits

Mar 2, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

Yesterday the IRS released its Report on Exempt Organizations Executive Compensation and the New York Times reported on these findings. About 600 charities and foundations had to file amended tax forms and problems were found in the way nonprofits reported payments to their executives and other employees. One of the reasons for the study that began in 2004 was to pin point excessive compensation to nonprofit executives through audits and questionnaires, ultimately improving tax law reporting of compensation practices of exempt organizations.

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Grassroots Lobbying Center Point of Lobby Reform Hearing

Mar 2, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

Yesterday the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties held a hearing on the lobby reform measures included in S.1. The heated discussion on the issue of grassroots lobbying disclosure has not gone unnoticed. A BNA Money and Politics ($$) points out the undeniable prominence the issue had during the session. The hearing was intended to focus on the ethics and lobby changes passed in S.1, but instead focused mostly on a measure that was voted out of the bill.

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Senator Grassley Will Continue to Monitor Nonprofit Activity

Mar 1, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

Reported comments by Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) indicate his plans to continue increased oversight of the nonprofit sector. In a BNA Money and Politics ($$) article covering Fannie Mae's decision to end its charitable foundation and create an Office of Community and Charitable Giving, Grassley was quoted several times with concern of nonprofit practices. Last year's Senate Finance Committee investigation into whether nonprofit groups deserve tax-exempt status was noted. Grassley was quoted as saying, "I'm not done looking into non-profits and political activity."

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