Nonprofit Voter Engagement

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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more news

Surprise, the FEC and IRS Will not Investigate Complaint

Mar 19, 2009 by Amanda Adams*

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Federal Election Commission (FEC) decided against going forward with an investigation into Americans for Job Security (AJS), a 501(c)(6) organization. According to BNA Money and Politics ($$), "AJS has spent about $40 million since its founding a decade ago, nearly all of it for political advertising that favors Republican congressional candidates and attacks Democrats.

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Nonprofits Make Major Impact on DC Voting Rights Legislation

Nonprofits have had an enormous impact on the District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act of 2009 (H.R.157/S.160). The bill passed in the Senate on Feb. 26 by a 61-37 vote and will soon come before the House. If the bill passes and is signed into law, it will give the District of Columbia a voting member in the House of Representatives for the first time.

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Is Voting Rights Discrimination an Issue of the Past in Alabama?

Mar 5, 2009 by Lateefah Williams*

Alabama Gov. Bob Riley says that voting rights discrimination in Alabama is an issue of the Past. He feels that Alabama is currently being unfairly punished for its actions during the Jim Crow period. Thus, he had state lawyers file a brief in Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District No. 1 v. Mukasey, a U.S. Supreme Court case where Texas is challenging Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

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Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act, Fourth Times A Charm?

Feb 27, 2009 by Amanda Adams*

For the fourth time Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) introduced a bill to require senators to file their campaign finance reports electronically, rather than in paper. S.482 currently has 25 bipartisan co-sponsors. Unlike presidential and House candidates, the Senate does not require the electronic filing of these reports. "Under the current paper filing system, the FEC's detailed coding, which allows for more sophisticated searches and analysis, is completed over a week later for Senate reports than for House reports.

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IRS Complaint Against the Marcus Foundation and Center for Union Facts

Feb 27, 2009 by Amanda Adams*

The AFL-CIO and Change to Win have filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) charging that two groups, the Center for Union Facts and the Marcus Foundation, violated their tax exempt status by engaging in prohibited partisan political activity during the 2008 election.

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Alabama Moves One Step Closer to Early Voting

Feb 12, 2009 by Lateefah Williams*

An Alabama House Committee approved a measure that would allow no-excuse absentee voting for Alabama voters. The bill would allow anyone to cast an absentee ballot as long as 40 days before the election. The House Constitution and Elections Committee approved the bill 9-2.

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Conyers Introduces Bills Protecting Voter Rights in Election Aftermath

During the 2008 presidential election season, there were numerous allegations of attempts to disenfranchise legitimate voters. Some of the techniques involved voter caging, voter purging, and deceptive practices. To prevent the use of these techniques in the future, Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) introduced legislation that would ban deceptive practices and eliminate voter caging. He also introduced a bill that would restore voting rights to numerous individuals who have been convicted of felonies and would make Election Day a holiday.

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Nonprofits Help Disenfranchised Michigan Voter Join Voter Rights Lawsuit

Feb 2, 2009 by Lateefah Williams*

The Advancement Project and the ACLU filed a motion, on behalf of Lisa Blehm, the wife of a U.S. serviceman, that will allow her to join a voter rights lawsuit. Pepper Hamilton LLP, the law firm representing the two nonprofits, filed a lawsuit in September 2008 on behalf of several nonprofits against several Michigan officials for illegal voter purges.

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Public Comments Ask FEC to Clarify, Simplify Campaign Finance Rules

After seeking public comments on ways to improve campaign finance regulation, enforcement, and compliance, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) heard a common theme: its rules and procedures can hinder nonprofits and small organizations from effectively participating in the political process. Nonprofits, including OMB Watch, recommended improvements that the FEC can make to ensure that all groups can fully participate in our democracy. A public hearing on the rules will be held on Jan. 14.

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Nonprofits File Lawsuit after Secretary of State Orders Them to Register as Political Committees

Dec 23, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

Two nonprofit organizations that engaged in a direct mail campaign targeting a group of state legislators sued the New Mexico Secretary of State for requiring that they register as political committees. The lawsuit was filed by the Center for Civic Policy and Southwest Organizing Project. Before the June primary, the groups send out fliers addressing several lawmakers' voting records, and all but one was up for re-election.

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