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

Public Could Track Lobbying Meetings with Proposed Website

Apr 9, 2009 by Amanda Adams*

A new proposed tool from the Sunlight Foundation could be used to accomplish President Obama's goal of increasing government transparency. According to the Sunlight Foundation, the executive branch could create a website aggregating the disclosure of meetings between government officials and lobbyists.

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IRS Unsure When PACI Report Will be Released

Apr 8, 2009 by Amanda Adams*

According to BNA Money and Politics ($$), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) annual report on the political activity compliance initiative project (PACI) for the 2008 campaign season "is in abeyance." The PACI report details cases that were examined for any possible campaign intervention.

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New Lobbyist Disclosure at OpenSecrets.org

Apr 8, 2009 by Amanda Adams*

The Center for Responsive Politics has a new database where you can track the number of lobbyists that reported lobbying on a piece of legislation back to 2005. The database is searchable by a bill's name, description, or number.

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Recovery Act Memo May Restrict Free Speech Rights

On March 20, President Barack Obama issued a memorandum stating that federally registered lobbyists cannot verbally communicate with executive branch officials regarding specific projects to be funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Instead, lobbyists must submit their views in writing. The goal of preventing stimulus funds from being spent based on influence or "on the basis of factors other than the merits" is widely seen as laudable. However, many are charging that the rules are a violation of lobbyists' First Amendment right to petition the government.

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Summary of national service organization and volunteer prohibited activities

The summary below covers existing restrictions on recipients of Corporation and National Community Service funding and, as changed in the Serve America Act, courtesy of the Center for Lobbying in the Public Interest.

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Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act Waiting for Obama's Signature

Mar 31, 2009 by Amanda Adams*

The Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act has just passed Congress and is now ready for President Obama to sign the measure into law. The House passed the Serve America Act with a vote of 275-149. The bill amends the National and Community Service Act of 1990 and will create two new service-learning programs.

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Are Rules on Lobbyists Violating First Amendment rights?

Mar 27, 2009 by Amanda Adams*

On March 20 President Barack Obama issued a memorandum to department and agency officials outlining restrictions on lobbyists regarding the economic stimulus package. As a result, some are in an uproar that the restrictions are a violation of lobbyists' free speech rights.

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Supreme Court Hears Citizens United Case

Mar 26, 2009 by Amanda Adams*

The Supreme Court heard oral argument in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (FEC) on Tuesday March 24. The case challenges FEC electioneering communications rules as applied to a feature-length movie highly critical of Hillary Clinton's presidential candidacy, and ads promoting the movie.

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Nonprofits and Obama's Lobbying Rules

On Jan. 21, President Barack Obama issued an executive order to stop the influence special interests have had in government and to close the revolving door between government service and financial rewards in the private sector. One aspect of the Obama order puts limits on lobbyists serving in government. These limits appear to be having unintended consequences for employees of nonprofit organizations, specifically those registered as lobbyists and working in the public interest.

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Court Decision Will Have Impacts on Voting Districts

On March 9, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in Bartlett v. Strickland that will impact voting districts nationwide. In Bartlett, the Court held in a 5-4 plurality decision that Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 does not require state officials to draw election lines to create a crossover district when racial minorities comprise less than 50 percent of the district's voting-age population.

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