New Posts

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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Seen but not Heard: Strengthening Nonprofit Advocacy

Seen but not Heard: Strengthening Nonprofit Advocacy, provides new research findings about the extent of nonprofit advocacy while also detailing the barriers and incentives for nonprofits seeking to engage in various types of policy activities. OMB Watch's Gary D. Bass and Kay Guinane co-authored the book with David Arons and Matthew Carter, with assistance from Susan Rees. Seen but not Heard was published in August by the Aspen Institute. To order a copy, click here.

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Right to Protest?

In June the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) released the October 2002 "Presidential Advance Manual" which outlines instructions for staff to deter potential protestors from President Bush's public appearances. The Washington Post is just now reporting on the manual the ACLU obtained as part of a lawsuit filed on behalf of two people arrested for refusing to cover their anti-Bush T-shirts at a Fourth of July speech.

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"Translating a Ruling Into New Limits for Issue Ads"

As reported last month, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) plans to issue a proposed regulation some time in August in light of the June Supreme Court ruling in the Wisconsin Right to Life case. The Washington Post now discusses the intricacies of doing so. The FEC is likely to use the Court's opinion as a guide to make clear when an ad is permitted issue advocacy, and when an ad crosses the line into electioneering. The article discusses a debate that has unfolded between two election law specialists, Robert Bauer and Richard Hasen.

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IRS Releases Comments On New Form 990

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released nearly 300 pages of public comments about the revised Form 990. When the draft was released the IRS asked for comments quickly and now the IRS has posted on its website what they have received through Aug. 12. The comments vary; to read through them, visit the IRS web site. Organizations may send in comments about the 990 changes to the IRS up until the Sept.14 deadline.

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Agencies Extend Legal Services Restriction to HIV/AIDS Grants

In an apparent attempt to derail a constitutional challenge to a requirement that all grantees in an HIV/AIDS prevention program adopt formal policies against sex trafficking, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have issued guidelines for grantees that allow affiliations with groups that do not adopt such pledges. The guidelines, issued July 23, are even more restrictive than similar requirements for legal services programs that are also the subject of a constitutional challenge. They require separate "management and governance" and complete physical separation "between an affiliate which expresses views on prostitution and sex-trafficking contrary to the government's message…" and the grantee. Four leaders in the House have written to USAID urging it to adopt the less restrictive standards that allow faith-based organizations to keep religious and government funded activity separate in time and place without the need for a separate affiliate. Although the guidance is already effective, HHS intends to publish the rule for public comment.

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Just Kidding - Bush Will Probably Sign Reform Bill Into Law

BNA Money and Politics ($$) now reports that President Bush is expected to sign the lobbying and ethics reform bill, S.1. "The officials, who asked not to be identified, told BNA that Bush still believes the measure is 'far from perfect,' but he is not likely to veto it when congressional Democratic leaders send him the measure in September.

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Panel Debates Pros and Cons of Allowing Charities to Become Partisan

On Aug. 9, the Hudson Institute's Bradley Center for Philanthropy and Civic Renewal hosted a forum titled "Should Nonprofit Organizations Play an Active Role in Election Campaigns?". The debate was inspired by separate opinion pieces in The Chronicle of Philanthropy, one by Robert Egger of the DC Central Kitchen, titled "Charities Must Challenge Politicians," and one by Pablo Eisenberg of Georgetown University, titled "Charities Should Remain Nonpolitical".

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FEC Fines Empower Illinois Media Fund

Three years ago Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) against the 527 organization Empower Illinois Media Fund (EIMF). Now, the FEC has fined EIMF $3,000 finding that they failed to register as a political committee and knowingly accepted individual contributions of over $5,000. The group violated the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) by running ads during the 2004 Illinois Senate race urging voters to vote against Barack Obama. For more information and all of the documents in the case, see CREW's website.

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AU Wants IRS to Investigate Southern Baptist Church in California for Church Electioneering

Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU) filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) asking for the investigation of the First Southern Baptist Church of Buena Park, California. AU Executive Director Barry Lynn said that the church's pastor, Dr. Wiley Drake, issued a news release on church letterhead Aug. 11 endorsing Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee which leaves the church at risk for violating federal tax law barring electioneering by non-profit groups.

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ACLU Files a Lawsuit Over Unrestricted Government Funding to Churches

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the ACLU of Louisiana filed a lawsuit asking a federal judge to stop the payments of state taxpayer money to two Louisiana churches, asserting that the state's budget bill violates the Establishment Clause. There was no explanation of the purpose of the funds in the earmark to two churches and no restrictions are placed on permissible use of the grants, then theoretically the money could be used for religious purposes.

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Resources & Research

Living in the Shadow of Danger: Poverty, Race, and Unequal Chemical Facility Hazards

People of color and people living in poverty, especially poor children of color, are significantly more likely...

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

The 100 largest CEO retirement funds are worth a combined $4.9 billion, equal to the entire retirement account savings of 41 percent of American fam...

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