In July we reported that the Congressional Management Foundation (CMF) is working on a project to attempt to solve a problem facing Members and their staff, excessive amounts of e-mail that often causes their systems to crash. Congressional staffers are frustrated with the amount of email while advocates are upset and worried that the correspondence they send to Members might not be getting any attention. Participants in online action campaigns often rely on organizations to research the issues, track legislation, and write correspondence, making participating quick and easy.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Exempt Organizations is offering a workshop in three cities for small and mid-sized 501(c)(3) exempt organizations to explain how they keep their tax-exempt status and comply with tax obligations. Now that the comment period for the draft Form 990 is closed, the IRS has posted all comments on its website, including the comments submitted by OMB Watch (Comments September 14, Part III.)

The New York Times first reported that Verizon Wireless rejected a request from NARAL Pro-Choice America to use Verizon's mobile network for a text-message campaign. Verizon held that, "it had the right to block 'controversial or unsavory' text messages" while the other wireless carriers accepted the program. Text messaging is increasingly being used as a powerful tool by political candidates and various advocacy campaigns. Supporters can be informed of various updates, calls to action, or even reminders to vote.

Legislation to require Senate campaign finance reports to be filed electronically (S.223) was blocked once again on Monday. It was Senator Dianne Feinstein's (D-CA) third attempt this year to bring up the Senate campaign electronic filing measure by unanimous consent. Currently, House and presidential candidates, PACs and party committees are required to file their reports electronically, but Senate candidates and party committees are exempt.