Protecting Nonprofit Rights

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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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GWOB Urges Treasury to Withdraw Anti-Terrorist Financing Guidelines for Charities

Dec 27, 2006 by Kay Guinane

Grantmakers Without Borders sent a letter to the Treasury Department on Dec. 22 strongly urging withdrawal of the third verson of its voluntary anti-terrorist financing guidelines. In a press release GWOB said:

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Court Decides Grassroots Lobbying Ads Not Barred by Campaign Finance Restrictions

Dec 22, 2006 by Kay Guinane

2006 started with a Supreme Court decision that allowed the Wisconsin Right to Life Committee (WRTL) to challenge the constitutionality of the McCain-Feingold rule that barred them from airing grassroots lobbying ads about judicial nominations 60 days before the 2004 election. The case was sent back to a lower court to decide if the facts in WRTL's situation entitled it to an exemption from the ban.

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"Support the Nonprofit Call for Fairness"

Dec 21, 2006 by Amanda Adams*

Third Sector New England (TSNE) is a 501(c)(3) that is dedicated to strengthening nonprofit organizations. TSNE is also apart of the signatories to the letter for Treasury Secretary Paulson asking that frozen funds belonging to charities designated as supporters of terrorism be released for charitable purposes. The letter makes no claim on whether the groups' designations were accurate, but calls for putting the funds to use as intended, charity. TSNE informs its members that as nonprofits they too can be apart of this effort to have the frozen donations released.

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Charities Call For Withdrawal of Anti-Terror Guidelines

Dec 19, 2006 by Amanda Adams*

BNA Money and Politics reports that the Council of Foundations sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Paulson on behalf of the Treasury Guidelines Working Group. OMB Watch is apart of the Working Group, that is once again asking for the withdrawal of the Anti-terrorist Financing Guidelines: Voluntary Best Practices for U.S.-based Charities. This latest version released September 29, 2006, includes some of the group's suggested changes, but the letter expresses the consensus that numerous concerns remain. As the letter states, "the Guidelines significantly exaggerate the extent to which U.S.

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2006 Roundup: Federal Developments Impacting Nonprofit Speech Rights

Although 2006 brought nonprofit organizations a somewhat hostile legal climate for grassroots advocacy, nonprofits provided leadership on issues in public policy debates and helped get voters to the polls and protect their rights. Nonprofits exposed government surveillance of groups that dissent and resisted efforts to silence debate or use federal grants as a wedge to control speech. To level the political playing field, nonprofits supported efforts to increase transparency in Congress.

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Justice Department Gets Involved in Life for Relief Case

Dec 15, 2006 by Amanda Adams*

The Detroit Free Press reports that the Justice Department might become involved in a case between Life for Relief and Development and Comerica Bank. The organization decided to sue Comerica Bank for violating their civil rights in threatening to close the charity's bank accounts. The suite challenges a section of the Patriot Act that allows financial institutions to share information about suspected money laundering or terrorist activity. The Justice Department might now step in to defend the contested part of the Patriot Act.

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House Lobbying and Ethics Proposals Formally Announced

Dec 15, 2006 by Amanda Adams*

The House ethics proposals were announced yesterday and incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reaffirmed promises of reform. The proposals included the creation of a panel within the Appropriations Committee that will oversee intelligence agencies and a House task force to consider establishing an outside ethics panel.

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Leahy Pledges Oversight of Privacy and Human Rights Issues

Dec 15, 2006 by Amanda Adams*

As previously reported, the new chairman of the Judiciary Committee Senator Leahy plans to increase oversight of government programs, placing a high priority on privacy issues. BNA Money and Politics (subscription required) reported on Leahy's speech at Georgetown University Law Center. There are also plans to create a Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law. Leahy was quoted in The New York Times saying, "the White House accelerated its power plays at the expense of the other branches of government — all in the name of fighting terrorism."

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Exiled Iranian Group Unjustly Labeled

Dec 15, 2006 by Amanda Adams*

The European Court of Justice reversed a European Union (EU) decision that in 2002 froze the funds of People's Holy Warriors, an exiled Iranian opposition group. The court ruling was based on the decision that the EU had not provided sufficient reasons to freeze the organization’s assets and did not provide a fair hearing. This decision could be encouraging for the groups whose assets are frozen in the United States. The New York Times covered this story.

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Anticipated FEC Fines

Dec 14, 2006 by Amanda Adams*

Earlier in the week Roll Call (subscription required) reported that the Federal Elections Commissioned (FEC) was likely to fine some 527 groups involved in the 2004 campaign. Yesterday, the FEC fined three 527 groups, Swift Boat Veterans, the League of Conservation Voters and MoveOn.org’s Voter Fund, after determining that the organizations violated requirements to register as political committees. The groups registered with the IRS as 527s which bars them from express advocacy, but the FEC determined that their large donor funds set involvement in campaign activity as their major function.

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Resources & Research

Living in the Shadow of Danger: Poverty, Race, and Unequal Chemical Facility Hazards

People of color and people living in poverty, especially poor children of color, are significantly more likely...

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A Tale of Two Retirements: One for CEOs and One for the Rest of Us

The 100 largest CEO retirement funds are worth a combined $4.9 billion, equal to the entire retirement account savings of 41 percent of American fam...

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Blowing Smoke: Chemical Companies Say “Trust Us,” But Environmental and Workplace Safety Violations Belie Their Rhetoric

Large chemical companies a...

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Gasping for Support: Implementation of Tougher Air Quality Standards Will Require New Funds for State Agencies

New scientific research shows that the current levels of...

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