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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more news

Lobby Reform in the States

May 31, 2006 by Guest Blogger

While some states have passed strict lobby reform measures, some are still treading water. From the Hill: Worried that “state legislatures get tarred with the same brush” being used to paint Congress as corrupt, Minnesota state Sen. Linda Higgins, a Democrat, co-wrote an ethics bill that would have prevented ex-members from lobbying former colleagues for two years and have imposed new financial disclosure requirements for lawmakers.

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Where Were These Voices? By Butch Otter

May 31, 2006 by Guest Blogger

Great post in The Hill's blog by Rep. C.L. "Butch" Otter:

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Nonprofit Civic Engagement Critical

May 31, 2006 by Guest Blogger

"Many of the more than 1 million organizations that have 501(c)3 tax exemption choose to flex their civic muscles during the election season, abiding by rules that prohibit them from supporting or opposing any candidate for public office," writes Alliance for Justice's Vanessa Dick. See complete article in the Philanthropy Journal.

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Jefferson Raid Subject of Hearing, Legislation

May 31, 2006 by Guest Blogger

As ethics legislation continues to wait for its House-Senate conference, the House Judiciary Committee convened a hearing May 30 to discuss the raid on Rep. William Jefferson's (D-LA) office. Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) says subsequent legislation is required.

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How Fast Charities Respond to Disaster: From the Urban Institute

May 31, 2006 by Guest Blogger

How and how fast charitable organizations respond to major disasters can have lasting effects on victims, communities, donors, and society at large. A new series of papers from the Urban Institute examines how these organizations responded to recent disasters and suggests how to improve responses to future tragedies.

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FFRF Sues VA for Violation of Establishment Clause

May 30, 2006 by Guest Blogger

Interesting case filed by Freedom From Religion Foundation: On April 18, the Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) filed suit against officials of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), claiming that the VA's hospital chaplaincy program violates the Establishment Clause. FFRF has brought two previous lawsuits against government programs that link religion and healthcare. This case, should it be determined in FFRF's favor, could impact the historic use of chaplancy in various other aspects of healthcare. For more, see Professor Ira Lupu's analysis of the case.

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Summary of House Small Biz Hearing on Charitable Giving

May 25, 2006 by Guest Blogger

From the Council on Foundations: Charitable Giving the Focus of Subcommittee Hearing

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GAO Report on Taxes Charities Owe Under the CFC

May 25, 2006 by Guest Blogger

Find the GAO report here.

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Chronicle of Philathropy Article on Ways and Means Hearing

May 25, 2006 by Guest Blogger

From the Chronicle of Philathropy: Some interesting points from the hearing included: What's more, the Government Accountability Office said that the Office of Personnel Management, which oversees the Combined Federal Campaign, does not screen participating charities for federal tax problems "or independently validate with the IRS whether the charity is truly a tax-exempt organization."

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Ways and Means Hearing Today on CFC Employment Tax

May 25, 2006 by Guest Blogger

Ways and Means has posted the statements from the Ramstad hearing: Hearing on Charities and Employment Taxes: Are Charities in the Combined Federal Campaign Meeting their Employment Tax Responsibilities?

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