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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U.S. House of Representatives to Digitize Constituent Postal Mail

On 5/17/02, the U.S. House of Representatives issued a request for proposals to digitize their e-mail. Labeled the House Digital Mail Program, it calls for a pilot system to be put in place that would support the digitization of all mail that comes into the offices of up to 50 members and two committees. The anthrax mail scares on the Hill in October 2001, required the switching of Hill mail facilities to an offsite location. This also led to security measures that have increased the amount of time it takes for mail to reach House postal facilities from 3 to 10 days;

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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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CARE Act Ready for Senate Committee Vote on June 18

The Senate Finance Committee began consideration of the Charity Aid Recovery and Empowerment Act of 2002 (CARE, S. 1924), the faith-based compromise proposed by Senators Joe Lieberman (D-CT) and Rick Santorum (R-PA) on June 13th. Since the committee lacked a quorum for a vote the bill is now scheduled for “mark up” and vote on June 18th. Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-MT) said he does not believe it will go to the Senate floor until after the July recess.

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Estate Tax Repeal Would Hurt More Than Giving Bill Would Help

The Senate Finance Committee will mark up charitable giving legislation based on the Santorum-Lieberman CARE Act (S 1924) tomorrow morning (June 13th). The legislation is being offered as a substitute to HR 7, a House giving bill that included controversial "charitable choice" provisions dealing with faith-based social services. The timing of this charitable giving legislation is extremely poor, as the Senate is right now debating legislation to permanently repeal the estate tax, a tax that provides a valuable incentive for charitable

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Is the FBI Watching You?

The Department of Justice announced new guidelines for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that dramatically expand their authority to conduct investigations that are not related to criminal activity and engage in surveillance of religious, political and advocacy organizations.

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FEC Urged to Exempt Nonpartisan Voter Education in Soft Money Rulemaking

Public comments have been filed and hearings held in the Federal Election Commission’s (FEC) first rulemaking to implement the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, focusing on rules relating to soft money contributions to political parties and fundraising by federal candidates and their agents. Both the Republican and Democratic parties urged a narrow interpretation of the rules, while BCRA Congressional sponsors and reform groups urged a more aggressive approach.

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The On-Again Off-Again CARE ACT

The on-again off-again mark-up of the Charity Aid, Recovery and Empowerment Act (CARE) (S. 1924), which is Sens. Joe Lieberman (D-CT) and Rick Santorum’s (R-PA) faith-based and charitable giving bill, looks like it will finally happen on Thursday, June 13 in the Senate Finance Committee. If it does go to mark-up, everyone is waiting with bated breath to find out what will be in the bill.

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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 Comments on Proposed Soft Money Rules

Comments on the Federal Election Commission's proposed regulations on soft money. May 29, 2002 Rosemary Smith, Assistant General Counsel Federal Election Commission 999 E Street NW Washington, DC 20463 Re: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Notice 2002-7: Prohibited and Excessive Contributions; Non-Federal Funds or Soft Money Dear Ms. Smith,

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GAO Issues Report on Exempt Organizations

The General Accounting Office has issued a report requested by the Senate Finance Committee that reviews oversight of charities and makes recommendations for improvement. Tax-Exempt Organizations: Improvements Possible in Public, IRS and State Oversight of Charities is available at Report GAO-02-526.

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