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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Focus On FEC Coordination Rule with an Early 2008 Presidential Race

Feb 21, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

BNA Money and Politics ($$) reports today on the latest in the clash between the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) and the sponsors of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA). Reps. Christopher Shays (R-CT) and Martin Meehan (D-MA) have warned the FEC that what we might see before the 2008 elections are federal candidates relying on corporations, unions, or wealthy individuals to supply unlimited funding for advertising early in the 2008 race. Shays and Martin Meehan have filed a lawsuit objecting to these coordination rules.

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Court Upholds Islamic American Relief Agency Asset Freeze

On Feb.13, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld a lower court decision that allowed the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to freeze the assets of the Missouri-based Islamic American Relief Agency. The court said the asset seizure was lawful because the court found the organization is an affiliate of a Sudanese group that was designated as a terrorist organization in 2004, making this the first case to allow such designation based solely on an alleged branch relationship. There was no finding that the U.S.

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Bills to Regulate Independent 527s Reintroduced

Sponsors of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) have reintroduced legislation they pushed in 2005 and 2006 to subject independent section 527 political organizations to the same contribution limits and regulation as federal campaigns and political parties, with identical bills in the House (H.R.420) and Senate (S.463).

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Grassroots Lobbying Survey Results Demonstrate Strong Support for Disclosure

In early February, OMB Watch conducted a week-long Internet survey on federal grassroots lobbying disclosure that asked respondents to express their support or opposition to a variety of disclosure principles. Over 1,100 people responded to the survey, and the results were clear: strong support exists for federal grassroots lobbying disclosure.

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May 31 Deadline for Shays v. FEC

Feb 15, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

According to BNA Money and Politics ($$), a federal judge has set the end of May as a deadline to complete briefing in the ongoing litigation between the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and Representatives Shays and Meehan. Shays and Meehan reject the FEC's refusal to write a rule on the activities of all 527 groups and the FEC's plan to consider possible campaign finance violations on a case by case basis looking at the actions of each organization.

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Court Upholds Asset Freeze on Islamic Charity

Feb 14, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

Yesterday the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit upheld the Treasury Department's decision to freeze the assets of the Islamic American Relief Agency-USA (IARA), in Columbia, Missouri. In 2004 Treasury Department designated IARA as a supporter of terrorism, freezing all accounts, funds and assets of IARA in the United States. The Islamic charity was designated for ties to an affiliate of a Sudanese charity, Islamic African Relief Agency that was accused of financing al-Qaeda.

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House Lobby Reform Package Set for March

Feb 14, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

The House began consideration of lobbying reform legislation, with specific attention towards the lobbying of executing branch officials. Yesterday the Oversight and Government Reform Committee considered H.R. 984, the Executive Branch Reform Act of 2007. The bill would require senior government officials to report significant contacts with lobbyists to the Office of Government Ethics. According to BNA Money and Politics ($$), the bill could be attached to the House's lobby reform legislation expected to be voted on in March.

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Shays and Meehan Uphold Fight to Regulate 527 Groups

Feb 13, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

On February 1, the FEC defended its plan of not issuing a ruling on 527 organizations. In response, Representatives Shays (R-Conn.) and Meehan (D-Mass.) have filed court papers expressing their plans to insist that a federal judge order the FEC to write rules for 527s. The FEC will respond in a February 16 court filing. The lawyers for Shays and Meehan are seeking a schedule to conclude by Mid-May, but the FEC is looking towards mid-July.

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Will High Speed Internet be Available for Your Group?

Feb 12, 2007 by Kay Guinane

The Communications Workers of America have launched a program advocating for a national strategy to make high speed Internet service universally available. Here's what they say about why this issue is important: We are falling behind because the United States is the only industrialized country without a national policy to promote high speed broadband. Instead, we have relied on a hodge-podge of fragmented government programs and uneven private sector responses to changing markets.

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Enforcement Hearings Approved

Feb 9, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) yesterday unanimously approved a new eight month pilot program that was proposed in November allowing those facing campaign finance enforcement charges to argue their case directly to the FEC commissioners. The commissioners would then vote after these secret meetings whether or not there is "probable cause" in the case. More information can be read in this FEC press release.

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