Nonprofit Speech Rights

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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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Senators Call for Updated Form 990, a Seemingly Opportune Time

May 31, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) has made another noteworthy formal communication to Treasury Secretary Paulson, this time along with ranking Finance Committee member Charles Grassley (R-IA). The leaders of the Senate Finance Committee have urged Treasury to update Form 990, the federal tax form nonprofits file each year to report tax information, so that the financial operations of nonprofits can be better understood. There is a particular focus of concern on scrutinizing hospitals and universities.

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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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Supreme Court Proposes Increased Disclosure of Ties Between Amicus Filers, Parties

May 29, 2007 by Kay Guinane

On May 17 the Supreme Court proposed several changes in its rules, including procedures for groups or individuals filing friend of the court (amicus curiae) briefs supporting a party in a pending case. Proposed rule 37.6 would impose a new disclosure requirement, expanding the current requirement that amicus filers disclose whether the attorneys for one of the parties in the case helped write the brief and identify outside funders. The new disclosure provision would require filers to also include:

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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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House Bill Would Eliminate Global Gag Rule for Family Planning Grantees

May 23, 2007 by Kay Guinane

Although H.R. 619, the Global Democracy Promotion Act, was filed in January 2007, I just ran across it in my regular searches. It would do away with restrictions on use of private funds by nonprofits with federal family planning grants. According to the Congressional Research Service summary it:

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House Vote on Ethics and Lobbying Reform Bill Set for Thursday

May 22, 2007 by Kay Guinane

On Thursday May 24, the House of Representatives is expected to vote on The Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 (H.R. 2316). This vote reflects the leadership's pledge to pass fundamental ethics and lobbying reform. The legislation contains several important reforms that represent progress in making the government more accountable and transparent to the electorate.
  • Requires electronic disclosure and public access on a searchable website

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House Reform Members Might Get Slammed by "Revolving Door"

May 21, 2007 by Dana Chasin

Late last week, the House leadership agreed to remove the "revolving door" provision from the lobbying and ethics bill. The bill is scheduled to reach the House floor for a vote this Thursday, right before Congress leaves for Memorial Day. The revolving door provision in the Senate version of the bill calls for a two-year "cooling off period" after members retire from Congress before they are allowed to lobby their former colleagues.

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Two Lobbying Reform Bills Approved By House Judiciary Committee, But Grassroots Disclosure Amendment Rejected

May 17, 2007 by Kay Guinane

Earlier today, the House Judiciary Committee approved two lobbying reform bills — The Lobbying Transparency Act (H.R. 2317) and The Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 (H.R. 2316). A proposed amendment offered by Rep. Martin Meehan (D-MA) on grassroots lobbying disclosure, however, was rejected by the Committee. The Committee approved H.R. 2316 after Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) successfully added a Manager's amendment, which resulted in three key changes to the bill:
  1. Stripped from the bill the proposed extension of the revolving door ban from one to two years;

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Citizens Have a Right to Know About Lobbying Efforts

May 16, 2007
By Gary D. Bass
Special to Roll Call
Reprinted with permission
In a May 10 Roll Call Guest Observer ("Citizens Don't Need 'Protection' From Lobbying"), Douglas Johnson and Caroline Fredrickson posed a question: "Do ordinary citizens need to be protected from groups that may urge them to contact their elected Representatives in Congress about some pending bill?" The authors were referring to H.R. 2093, the latest proposal to shine a light on who is behind big-money, federal grass-roots lobbying expenditures.

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Resources & Research

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A Tale of Two Retirements: One for CEOs and One for the Rest of Us

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Blowing Smoke: Chemical Companies Say “Trust Us,” But Environmental and Workplace Safety Violations Belie Their Rhetoric

Large chemical companies a...

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Gasping for Support: Implementation of Tougher Air Quality Standards Will Require New Funds for State Agencies

New scientific research shows that the current levels of...

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