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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Hearing Agenda Set for FEC Electioneering Rulemaking

Oct 12, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) will hold a hearing spanning two days and hear from 15 witnesses as part of a rulemaking to incorporate the Supreme Court's recent decision in Wisconsin Right to Life v. FEC. The FEC announced the agenda for the hearing yesterday. On Oct. 17-18 the FEC will consider the notice outlining a proposed rulemaking issued in August which put forth two alternatives to interpret the Court's decision. OMB Watch submitted comments, and for more information, see this article from the latest Watcher.

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More Detail on Yesterday's House FISA Hearings

Oct 11, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

Significant amendments were voted on yesterday during both the House Judiciary and Intelligence mark up hearings on HR 3773, the Responsible Electronic Surveillance that is Overseen, Reviewed, and Effective Act of 2007 (RESTORE Act) a bill to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). The passage of these measures ultimately improved the bill. During the Intelligence Committee hearing, Representative Rush Holt (D-NJ) offered an amendment, which passed, with four provisions. The amendment would:

reaffirm that FISA is the only basis for conducting domestic surveillance;

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Democracy 21 Asks FEC for a Statement of Policy on 527s

Oct 11, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer has asked the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to issue a clear notice so that 527 groups understand that the organization and its funders could face penalties in the future. The message from the FEC has been that the recent settlements will provide sufficient guidance to others thinking of carrying out similar activities in the future.

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Law Banning Lying About Political Candidates Violates Free Speech

Oct 11, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

Last week the Washington State Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that a state law intended to punish political candidates for false advertising is an unconstitutional infringement on free speech. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported; "the majority said that under that ruling, only defamatory statements are not constitutionally protected speech, and that the new law did not require proof of the defamatory nature of the prohibited statements. Thus, the current law 'extends to protected political speech and strict scrutiny must apply.'"

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Judge Blocks Legislative Earmarks to Churches

Oct 10, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

In August the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Louisiana asked that payments to churches totaling $120,000, approved by the legislature as part of a general appropriations bill were stopped. In response, on Oct. 5, a federal judge in Louisiana issued an order stating that "non-neutral, direct money grants of taxpayer funds to favored houses of worship are clearly unconstitutional." The ACLU argued that the legislative earmarks violated the First Amendment's Establishment Clause.

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Conyers/Reyes FISA Reform Bill Passes House Committees

Oct 10, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

Both the House Judiciary and the House Intelligence Committee passed HR 3773, the Responsible Electronic Surveillance that is Overseen, Reviewed, and Effective Act of 2007 (RESTORE Act). The bill is meant to reform the Protect America Act (PAA) which passed hastily in August to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). The bill is expected to be sent to the House floor for a vote next week.

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Conference Focuses on E-mail Frustration Felt by Congress and Advocacy Groups

On Oct.1, the Congressional Management Foundation (CMF), a nonpartisan nonprofit organization working to improve the effectiveness of Congress, held a forum on constituent communications with Congress. The goal of the conference was to "identify ways to make it easier for citizens to express their views to Congress in an effective way and for congressional offices to manage and get value from the communications they receive." The massive amount of e-mail Congress receives from constituents was the main topic of discussion. Both nonprofit advocacy groups and congressional staffers agreed that the current approach to e-mail communications works for neither side, but they were unable to find common ground on solutions. CMF will release a draft report in early 2008 on the conference and its research on the topic, with the goal of fostering a new model of constituent communications with Congress.

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Nonprofits File Comments on Proposed Electioneering Communications Rule

On Oct. 1, comments were due to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on its proposed new rules to make the agency's regulations consistent with the U.S. Supreme Court decision in FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life (WRTL II). That case held that paid broadcasts that cannot be reasonably interpreted as appeals to vote for or against a federal candidate must be allowed to air in the period before federal elections. These broadcasts were restricted by law. The FEC will hold a hearing on Oct. 17, and it plans to vote on a final rule by the end of November, in time for the presidential primaries.

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"disclosure is shaping up as the key question"

Oct 5, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

BNA Money and Politics ($$) reported on a Heritage Foundation event that focused on the Federal Election Commission's (FEC) proposed electioneering communication rulemaking and the Wisconsin Right to Life Supreme Court ruling. "The June Supreme Court decision that struck down restrictions on corporate and labor union funding of political advertisements said nothing about disclosure of who is paying for ads, but disclosure is shaping up as the key question confronting the Federal Election Commission in the wake of the Court's ruling, according to experts debating the issue at an Oct.

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House Surveillance Bill Could Be Made Public Soon

Oct 5, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

In response to the Protect America Act (PAA) signed into law in August which temporarily reformed the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), Democrats are now working on a new, hopefully more conscious piece of legislation to revise FISA. The House Select Intelligence Committee is scheduled to mark up a bill next Wednesday and according to CQ ($$), Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) has postponed plans to brief reporters on the bill, originally planned for today (Oct.5).

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