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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FEC Proposes Rulemaking on Elections and Issue Advocacy

On Aug. 23, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) stating the agency's intent to make its regulations consistent with the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life (WRTL II). The FEC seeks public comment on two alternative proposals by Oct. 1. The FEC will hold a hearing on Oct. 17, and it plans to vote on a final rule by the end of November, in time for the presidential primaries.

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USAID Temporarily Delays Implementation of Partner Vetting System

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has agreed to temporarily delay implementation of a new database, called the Partner Vetting System (PVS), that would "[ensure] that neither USAID funds nor USAID-funded activities inadvertently or otherwise provide support to entities or individuals associated with terrorism." Under the plan, initially announced on July 17, all nonprofits that apply for grants, contracts or other financial partnership with USAID would have to provide the government with highly detailed personal information about employees, executives, trustees, subcontractors and others associated with the organization. On July 20, USAID also proposed to exempt portions of the PVS database from the Privacy Act. USAID is accepting comment on the Privacy Act exemption until Sept. 18. Charities are actively objecting to this burdensome and unwarranted program in which thousands of nonprofit workers would have to be screened. USAID is moving forward with a pilot program for aid recipients working in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip before expanding it globally as first intended.

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Amendment to Overturn "Mexico City" Policy Approved

Sep 7, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

The Senate amended the State-Foreign Operations bill (HR 2764) to overturn existing policy, known as the "Mexico City" policy banning international aid for overseas groups that perform abortions or related services such as counseling. The underlying bill would have weakened the existing "Mexico City" policy by allowing the U.S. to provide condoms to organizations overseas, but the amendment passed with a 53-41 vote overturning the policy altogether.

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Blogs Exempt From FEC Oversight

Sep 7, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) has dismissed an enforcement case in which the blog Daily Kos was charged with violating campaign finance law by posting blog entries that support particular federal candidates. The FEC denied that the site should be regulated as a political committee. See this posting at Daily Kos on the case.

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Reform Bill Sent to President and is Expected to Sign

Sep 6, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

The lobbying and ethics reform bill, S.1, was finally sent to President Bush Sept. 4, and Bush is expected to sign the measure into law early next week. This comes after the bill was withheld from the president out of concern of a possible veto. The president reportedly has concerns over the earmark provisions and the revolving door provisions.

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Citizens Club for Growth Inc. Agree to Pay FEC Fine

Sep 6, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) reached an agreement with Citizens Club for Growth Inc., and if approved by the court, would end a lawsuit before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. It would be the largest civil penalty the FEC ever collected after an enforcement case moved to litigation. Club for Growth has agreed to pay $350,000 for failing to register with the FEC as a political committee and report its contributions and expenditures.

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District Court Rules FEC Can Continue to Regulate 527s On a Case-by-Case Basis, Not through a Forced Rulemaking

Aug 31, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) will continue to regulate independent 527 political groups on a case-by-case basis. A federal judge ruled in favor of the FEC in a lawsuit brought by Rep. Christopher Shays (R-CT) and then-Rep. Martin Meehan (D-MA) and campaign reform groups asking that the FEC be forced to write a rule requiring that groups registered with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as a political organization under section 527 also register with the FEC as a federal political committee.

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FEC Fines 527 Group for Spending $100 Million in "Soft Money"

Aug 30, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) announced that it reached a settlement with America Coming Together (ACT), ruling that the group violated federal campaign finance laws during the 2004 Presidential election. ACT agreed to pay $775,000 to settle charges that it used soft money to pay for federal campaign expenses. In 2004 the Campaign Legal Center, Democracy 21, and the Center for Responsive Politics filed a complaint against ACT for illegally spending soft money to influence the 2004 presidential campaign.

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Two Years since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita: The Charitable Response

Aug 29, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

Nearly two years have passed since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and now is a perfect time to look at the charitable work in the area in terms of what has been accomplished, what needs to be done, and how charities point out the inequities that remain. The Chronicle of Philanthropy ($$) spotlights this discussion of charities and the hurricane recovery through a series of articles. An important point to discuss two years later is that charitable funds are still drastically needed.

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FEC Issues Proposed Rulemaking on Electioneering Communications

Aug 24, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) issued a proposed rulemaking, which will be published in the Federal Register next week, to implement the Supreme Court decision in Wisconsin Right to Life v. FEC (WRTL). The FEC has put forth two alternative proposals and seeks comments on many questions; asking, "Does WRTL II require the Commission to revise or repeal any portion of its definition of express advocacy?" Both alternatives would establish safe harbors for grassroots lobbying communications based on the analysis of the specific ads at issue in the WRTL case.

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