Nonprofit Speech Rights

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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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Senate May Consider CARE Act Soon

The scaled back version of the CARE Act (S 476) passed by the Senate Finance Committee is on a list of eleven items Senate leadership expects to take up in the next few weeks, possibly as early as the week of March 10. Once the bill reaches the floor Senators Rick Santorum (R-PA) and Joe Lieberman (D-CT) will offer their comprehensive version of CARE, S 272, as an amendment. S 272 includes “equal treatment” provisions for faith-based organizations seeking grants and authorization of the Compassion Capital Fund. (See our summary).

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Church Electioneering Bill Gains Sponsors

Rep. Walter Jones' (R-NC) bill to allow houses of worship to engage in partisan electioneering, including endorsing or opposing candidates, during religious services and similar events has gained 54 co-sponsors in the House. The bill, H.R. 235, is a scaled back version of legislation that failed to pass the House last year. While the new bill limits electioneering to religious services, it has still raised concerns about houses of worship becoming soft money conduits and indirect tax subsidies for partisan activity based on tax deductibility of donations to religious organizations.

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OMB Watch Comments on Charitable Choice Rules Seek Accountability, Less Discrimination

In December the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released proposed rules on “equal treatment” of faith-based organizations competing for grants in the Temporary Assistance to Families in Need (TANF), Community Service Block Grant (CSBG) and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) programs. The public comment period ended last week, with OMB Watch filing comments calling for stronger financial and programmatic accountability rules and opposing rules that allow discrimination against program beneficiaries and employees based on religion.

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Comments of OMB Watch on Charitable Choice Provisions Applicable to TANF

Full text of comments on Department of Health and Human Services proposed regulations for "equal treatment" of religious organizations in competition for grant funding in the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program. Similar comments were filed for proposed regulations for the Community Services Block Grant Program and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. February 18, 2003 April Kaplan, Office of Family Assistance Administration for Children and Families 370 L' Enfant Promenade, SW 5th Floor Washington, D.C. 20447

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Senate Finance Committee Passes Limited CARE Act

For more information see our summary of both bills. Tax policy expert Matt Hamill of the Institute for Higher Education Policy has put together a comparison of the charitable giving portions of H.R. 7, CARE Act 2002 and 2003 and the Bush Budget for FY 04.

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Limited CARE Bill Passes Senate Finance Committee

For more information see our summary of both bills. Tax policy expert Matt Hamill of the Institute for Higher Education Policy has put together a comparison of the charitable giving portions of H.R. 7, CARE Act 2002 and 2003 and the Bush Budget for FY 04.

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Summary of New CARE Bills

On February 5th the Senate Finance Committee passed a scaled back version of the Charity Aid, Relief and Empowerment Act of 2003 that has tax incentives for giving. However, Senators Rick Santorum (R-PA), Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) have filed another version of CARE, that also has the “equal treatment” provisions on federal grants. Summaries of both bills are below. Jump to Summary of S 272. Summary and Analysis of New Senate CARE Bill: S. 256 (Without “Equal Treatment” Provisions) Title: Charity Aid, Relief and Empowerment Act of 2003

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Sentences for Violations of BCRA Set

The United States Sentencing Commission has proposed interim sentencing guidelines for increased penalties for violations of campaign finance law, incorporating requirements from last year’s Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA). OMB Watch filed comments in December 2002 asking that the emergency guidelines treat illegal electioneering communications more leniently than illegal campaign contributions or soft money expenditures, since “contributions of money can only be meant to influence an election.

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NPTalk Turns to NPAction; New Features Added

We wish to thank everyone who supported NPTalk during its first four years. We are pleased to announce NPTalk's integration with NPAction, OMB Watch's online resource for nonprofit advocacy. NPAction, currently in its pilot phase, offers a wide range of policy information and tools. Please take a moment to include your organization in the Resource Directory, and explore our work to date. Your thoughts will help inform the official version of the site, slated for launch in Spring 2003.

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Scaled Down Church Electioneering Bill Introduced

We are collecting feedback from nonprofits on how much partisan electioneering powers can help or hurt 501(c)(3) organizations. What do you think? Could taking sides be a good investment of your group's time, money, or political capital? What are the dangers, and can they be avoided? If so, how? You can provide us with input through our online forum on NPAction.org Last fall, after the House defeated a bill that would have allowed religious organizations to engage in partisan electioneering, sponsor Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) promised to re-introduce the bill in the next Congress. On January 8 he followed through by introducing the Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act, H.R. 235), which attempts to address concerns raised about last year’s bill by narrowing the scope of what it allows. It currently has thirteen co-sponsors and has been referred to the Ways and Means Committee.

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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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Blowing Smoke: Chemical Companies Say “Trust Us,” But Environmental and Workplace Safety Violations Belie Their Rhetoric

Large chemical companies a...

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Gasping for Support: Implementation of Tougher Air Quality Standards Will Require New Funds for State Agencies

New scientific research shows that the current levels of...

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