On September 12, the Federal Communications Commission adopted a notice of proposed rulemaking as part of its biennial review of media ownership rules mandated under the 1996 Telecommunications Act to determine whether the marketplace is sufficiently ensuring the goals of local responsiveness, diversity, and competition with respect to local media, or if existing rules need to be maintained or modified, in order to promote these goals.

H.R. 2357, titled the “Houses of Worship Political Speech Protection Act”, would allow religious organizations to support or oppose candidates for public office without losing their tax-exempt status. (Current tax law prohibits all nonprofits exempt under 501(c)(3) of the tax code from attempting to influence elections.) H.R. 2357’s sponsors claim: ? The bill is needed to allow religious leaders to speak on issues of the day. ? This year’s campaign finance reform law will prevent religious congregations from spending funds on partisan electioneering even if H.R. 2357 becomes law. Why are they wrong?

The IRS is considering revising Form 990 to increase public accountability through better disclosure. IRS Announcment 2002-87, released September 4th, seeks public comment on a variety of proposed changes to reporting on fundraising, transactions between PACs and their nonprofit affiliates, corporate ties and conflicts of interest and grants to foreign organizations.

The “Stealth PAC” law of 2000 requires political action committees (PACs) exempt under Section 527 of the federal tax code to register with the IRS and report their contributions and expenditures. (Contributions to 527 organizations are not tax dedcutible.) The National Federation of Republican Assemblies filed a constitutional challenge to the law in federal court in Alabama soon after it passed. On August 27 Judge Richard Vollmer of the U.S. District Court for Southern Alabama upheld part of the law and overturned part as unconstitutional.