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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TIGTA Releases Audit of Political Activities Compliance Initiative (PACI)

Jun 30, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) has released an audit report addressing improvements in educating and enforcing the prohibition against political activities for tax-exempt organizations. The purpose of the audit was to determine the effectiveness of the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) Political Activities Compliance Initiative (the Initiative). The audit addressed how effective the IRS is in addressing alleged incidences of political campaign intervention and "whether actions had detected repeated campaign intervention by previously identified organizations."

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Voter ID Lawsuits Filed in Indiana

Jun 27, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

It has been two months since the controversial Supreme Court decision upholding Indiana's voter identification law requiring photo ID for anyone casting a ballot. Since the Supreme Court left open as applied challenges in federal court and state constitution challenges, two lawsuits in Indiana have already been filed.

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Nonprofits See Election Year Opportunity

Jun 25, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

The Chronicle of Philanthropy ($$) has an interesting article on how nonprofits are utilizing the excitement of this election season.

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Yes, Nonprofits Should Lobby

Jun 24, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

The current issue of the Chronicle of Philanthropy ($$) has an opinion piece titled " How to Guarantee Respect for Public-Interest Lobbyists." It addresses some of the negative consequences of the growing disdain towards lobbyists that has led to the presidential candidates' public purge of any such connections. In response, "to restore public faith in democracy, nonprofit groups need to do even more lobbying and advocacy.

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The Internet and Political Engagement

Jun 18, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

The Pew Internet and American Life Project has recently released a new report titled "Internet and the 2008 Election". The survey found that 46 percent of all Americans have used the internet, e-mail or cell-phone text messaging to participate in the political process. In addition, 35 percent of Americans have watched online videos related to the campaign, and 10 percent have used social networking sites to engage in political activity. Voters are increasingly making campaign contributions online, and more are using the Internet to get unfiltered information.

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VA's Ban on Voter Registration Drives Questioned in Court

Jun 13, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

According to an Alternet article, an attorney for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), "told a federal appeals court Thursday that the VA could not conceive of any circumstance where voter registration drives could occur at its facilities." For the most part the atrocious decision to ban registration drives at VA facilities has largely been absent from major newspapers, but the New York Times has now covered the recent federal appeals court hearing.

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ABA Tax Section Offers Recommendations for IRS Guidance Priority List

Jun 13, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

The American Bar Association Section of Taxation recommended guidance to be included in the 2008-2009 Treasury Department Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance priority list. The section asked for guidance in a range of practice areas including exempt organizations.

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New Study on Citizen Engagement

Jun 11, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

The Congressional Management Foundation (CMF) has released a very interesting new study titled, "Communicating with Congress How the Internet Has Changed Citizen Engagement." It reports on the results of survey research with over 10,000 citizens about their correspondence with Congress. A CMF press release highlights that nearly 100 million adult Americans contacted Congress in the last five years. With consequences for citizens, Congress, and advocacy organizations, the study provides a lot of valuable information.

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IRS Phone Forum on Issue Advocacy Rules for Exempt Organizations

Jun 11, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) held a phone forum on the role tax exempt organizations can play in the electoral process, addressing issues of political activity, lobbying and issue advocacy. 501(c)(3) organizations can educate voters, register voters, and encourage higher voter turnout, as long as the activity is carried out in an unbiased way. According to BNA Money and Politics ($$), the IRS is concentrating on issue advocacy because it is increasingly finding situations that are not covered under the precedential guidance in Revenue Ruling 2007-41.

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OMB Watch Calls for Clear IRS Rules for Election Activities

In response to an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) request for input on its 2008-09 guidance priorities, OMB Watch submitted comments that stated the top IRS priority should be the creation of a bright-line definition of prohibited political intervention for charities and religious organizations exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC). The IRS is continuing its public education efforts to inform groups about the prohibition on partisan election activities and will soon release two field directives for IRS agents to guide them in enforcing the rules.

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