Protecting Nonprofit 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 Audit Clears Focus on the Family

Sep 11, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

In 2005 a complaint was filed with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) charging that Focus on the Family, a 501(c)(3), violated IRS guidelines because of increased political campaign activity. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) alleged that Dobson violated IRS code by using Focus on the Family resources to campaign for or endorse Republican candidates.

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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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Tell Congress to Reconsider the Protect America Act!

Sep 7, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

The unauthorized illegal wiretapping of nonprofits, amongst others, has already been made known and now, that authority has been expanded. We are calling on you to urge Congress to act now and revisit the temporary fix to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) that passed in August. The Protect America Act of 2007 (PAA), S. 1927, gives the government the power to wiretap anyone, including U.S. citizens, without any court approval as long as the "target" of the surveillance is located outside the U.S.

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Uncertain Charitable Giving for Many Muslim and Arab-Americans

Sep 7, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

Two representatives of the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes met with Detroit area Muslim and Arab-Americans to discuss charitable giving in preparation for Ramadan, a Muslim holy month beginning next week. During Ramadan donations to charity are typically at their highest because of a religious requirement, zakat, a practice of giving to good causes. The meeting was organized by the U.S. Attorney's Office and Muslim leaders to address questions and concerns.

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Photo ID Law for Voters Upheld in Georgia

Sep 7, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

A coalition of organizations including the American Civil Liberties Union, the N.A.A.C.P., Common Cause Georgia, the League of Women Voters, and others challenged Georgia's voter ID law, but a federal judge ruled that the groups did not successfully prove that the law placed "an undue or significant burden" on the right to vote. U.S. District Judge Harold Murphy of Rome on Thursday ordered the dismissal of the lawsuit, and the ID law will be in effect for a September 18th election.

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Senate Committee to Consider Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Bill

Sep 6, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

Today the Senate Judiciary Committee approved S. 453, the Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act of 2007, legislation intended to punish voter intimidation. As expected according to CQ ($$), the committee removed language that would allow private parties to bring lawsuits to block deceptive voting practices. This makes the language more alike a companion bill in the House, HR 1281 which passed in June.

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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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