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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IRS Reminds Charities to Avoid Electioneering This Campaign Season

Jun 1, 2006 by Guest Blogger

From the IRS Newswire: IRS Reminds Charities to Avoid Campaign Activities This Election Season IR-2006-87, June 1, 2006 WASHINGTON — This election season the Internal Revenue Service reminds charities to avoid becoming involved in political campaign activities. In the 2004 elections, the IRS noticed an upturn in politicking on the part of 501(c)(3) organizations. The agency responded by increasing its educational efforts and launching an enforcement program, the Political Activity Compliance Initiative (PACI), to investigate specific, credible allegations of wrongdoing.

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DC Seeks More Power Over Nonprofits

Jun 1, 2006 by Guest Blogger

From the Examiner: D.C. government wants to give prosecutors more power to enforce laws against organizations that abuse their tax-exempt status or mishandle their money, but some nonprofit groups are saying they are already sufficiently regulated.

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NY Times Editorial: Block the Vote

Jun 1, 2006 by Guest Blogger

Great new editorial in the New York Times: In a country that spends so much time extolling the glories of democracy, it's amazing how many elected officials go out of their way to discourage voting. States are adopting rules that make it hard, and financially perilous, for nonpartisan groups to register new voters. They have adopted new rules for maintaining voter rolls that are likely to throw off many eligible voters, and they are imposing unnecessarily tough ID requirements.

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Birnbaum On Lobby Reform Lite

Jun 1, 2006 by Guest Blogger

Rep. David Dreier (R-Calif.), one of the architects of the House-passed measure, said he would like to "pursue more reform" after the current legislation passes. And when will that be? If more indictments come down and the public begins to revolt noticeably against incumbents over the issue, maybe Congress will bestir itself to act more quickly and aggressively. But my guess is that incumbents won't feel the wrath of voters until Election Day, and regret their inaction too late. For the whole article...

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More on the FEC and 527s

Jun 1, 2006 by Guest Blogger

For more on 527s: Bob Bauer's Blog Kate Phillips, "Election Panel Won't Issue Donation Rules," New York Times (May 31, 2006).

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FEC Will Provide Further Explanation on 527s Instead of New Rule

Jun 1, 2006 by Guest Blogger

The Federal Election Commission voted yesterday, 4 to 2, not to appeal a U.S. District Court opinion mandating either a new rulemaking or further explanation of the political committee definition - specifically, how "527s organizations" are regulated. According to the Washington Post,

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NAACP Releases Information on IRS Audit

Seven Republican members of Congress filed complaints with the IRS in 2004, claiming the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) engaged in partisan electioneering, leading to an IRS probe, according to agency documents released to the NAACP under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The NAACP has asked the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) to review the IRS's failure to fully respond to its FOIA requests.

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GAO Report on EPA Grants Management

May 31, 2006 by Guest Blogger

GAO was asked to look at EPA's progress in implementing grant reforms in four areas, one of which was monitoring grantees. To see the report

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USAID Pledge Requirement Again Found Unconstitutional

A second federal judge has ruled that a sweeping restriction on the privately funded speech of groups participating in the federal government's international HIV/AIDS program violates the First Amendment.

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OMB Watch in the News

May 31, 2006 by Guest Blogger

An editorial in today's Washington Examiner details the importance of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (S. 2590), commonly known as Coburn-Obama-Carper-McCain.

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