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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Obama's Plan To Boost America's Nonprofits

Dec 18, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

Democratic presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) has proposed expanding existing national-service programs like the Peace Corps and AmeriCorps. Obama has also promised increased federal government help for nonprofits. Obama said he would create a Social Investment Fund Network to provide money to encourage innovative nonprofit projects, including for example the funding of specific community-identified priorities, and creating a Social Entrepreneurship Agency. Read his proposal here.

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FISA To Be Continued

Dec 18, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

The Senate voted 76-10 yesterday (Dec. 17) to begin debate on a bill (S.2248) to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). However, after it was clear during debate that resolving the issues of the many amendments would be too difficult, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) decided to postpone the vote on the measure until after the winter break in 2008.

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IRS Will Address 501(c)(4)s With Rules on Political Activity

Dec 18, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

As the 2008 election nears, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will reportedly contact and educate groups about the limits on political activity. As the press calls in a warning about nonprofits' (501(c)(4)'s) involvement in elections, the IRS has responded. According to BNA Money and Politics; ($$)

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Charities and National Security: Growing Awareness of Need for Reform

In 2007, the effects of the ineffective and counterproductive legal regime governing counterterrorism programs and charities demonstrated that the current system, based on a short-term emergency response to the 9/11 attacks, needs to be reassessed and reformed for the long term.

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The Good, the Bad and the Ugly for Nonprofit Speech Rights

While ethics reform and the U.S. Supreme Court decision in FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life were among federal developments in 2007 that strengthened citizen voices, threats to donor privacy and vague, inconsistent IRS enforcement of the ban on partisan activities by charities and religious organizations were among events that went from bad to just plain ugly. Here is a roundup: The Good The Supreme Court decision in Wisconsin Right to Life

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Next Steps for Electioneering Communications, Explanation from FEC and New Fight against Disclosure Rule

Dec 14, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is expected to finalize the new rule for funding "electioneering communications" upon approving the explanatory text known as the explanation and justification (E&J). The E&J gives some examples of the types of ads that corporations may or may not sponsor.

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Senate Plans Debate On FISA Next Week

Dec 14, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

Senators plan to begin debating permanent revisions to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) next week, but this does not guarantee that anything will be accomplished. The Senate Judiciary Committee did not approve Senator Arlen Specter's (R-PA) bill that would have substituted the government as the defendant in lawsuits against the telecommunications companies. Specter will likely offer the measure as an amendment during floor debate.

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New Senate Rules on Privately Sponsored Travel

Dec 11, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

The Senate Ethics Committee has released new guidelines on Senate travel rules in accordance with the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act. According to BNA Money and Politics ($$);

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Political Intervention Complaints Continue

Dec 7, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has already started receiving complaints related to the 2008 election. Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU) have filed a complaint with the IRS, asking for an investigation into Liberty University Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. AU charges that Falwell used school resources to endorse Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. Falwell hosted the candidate at Liberty University and then sent an e-mail message on Liberty University letterhead endorsing Huckabee. An AU press release states;

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Court Finds Public Funds Went Towards Religious Program in State Prison

Dec 6, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

This week a federal appeals court ruled that tax funding of a Christian rehabilitation program at an Iowa state prison violates the separation of church and state. Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU) filed a lawsuit in 2003 against the state of Iowa and Prison Fellowship, which operated a pre-release program for inmates called the InnerChange Freedom Initiative. AU charged that the program, in one of the state's prisons, promoted religious indoctrination and violated the constitutional separation of church and state.

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