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...

read in full

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...

read in full

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...

read in full

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...

read in full

more news

Appropriations for LSC Complete, Keeping in Place Advocacy Restrictions

Dec 9, 2009 by Amanda Adams*

Conferees completed their work on the FY2010 Commerce-Justice-Science ("CJS") appropriations bill. It will be included in an omnibus spending measure, along with the rest of the unfinished appropriations bills except Defense. The CJS measure appropriates funds for the Legal Services Corporation (LSC).

read in full

CRS Report on Lobbying Rules

Dec 9, 2009 by Amanda Adams*

Last week, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) released a report asserting that the Obama administration's rules covering federally registered lobbyists have "already changed the relationship between lobbyists and covered executive branch officials." The report titled, "Lobbying and the Executive Branch: Current Practices and Options for Change," did not explain how those relationships have changed.

read in full

How Will Proposed Anti-Prostitution Rules Impact Nonprofits?

On Nov. 23, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a proposed rulemaking to revise its implementation of an anti-prostitution policy requirement for organizations that receive HIV/AIDS funding from the agency. The requirement currently compels speech by government grantees.

read in full

Group Asks FEC if Federal Election Law Preempts State Robocall Laws

Robocalls – automated phone messages – are one of the least expensive methods that political candidates use to reach voters. However, restrictions on unsolicited calls have complicated efforts by candidates who want to use political robocalls. While political robocalls are exempt from the national "do not call" registry, some states have implemented restrictions on them. A political organization is now asking whether these state laws run afoul of federal law.

read in full

Midnight Regulations Roundup

Dec 4, 2009 by Matthew Madia

The Obama administration continues to chip away at the Bush administration’s midnight regulations campaign. Obama agencies took action on two more Bush-era midnight regulations this week and a third last week.

read in full

FEC Ruling Could Block State Laws on Robocalls

Dec 3, 2009 by Amanda Adams*

Robocalls, automated phone messages, are exempt from the national "do not call" registry. However, some states have implemented restrictions on robocalls. Some states require that a live operator talk first before connecting to the recording, while Arkansas and Wyoming have even banned them.

read in full

December 1, 2009 Charity and Security Newsletter

Vol 1, Issue 22
Featured articles and blog commentaries (click on headline to read full article)

1. Initial Supreme Court Briefs Filed in Humanitarian Law Project Case
2. Report: Constitution Project Calls for Reform of Material Support Laws
3. Kindhearts v. Treasury: Successfully Challenging the Constitutionality of Treasury Shutting Down a Charity
4. Court Orders Author to Return CAIR Documents, Civic Participation Efforts Generate Fearful Response
5. Tainted Book: A Misguided View About Charities

read in full

Many Agree Lobbying Policies May Not Actually Reduce Corruption

Dec 1, 2009 by Amanda Adams*

The most recent effort to curb lobbyists' influence, excluding registered lobbyists from federal advisory panels, continues to get press coverage since first announced in September. The Washington Post predicts that it, "may turn out to be the most far-reaching lobbying rule change so far from President Obama, who also has sought to restrict the ability of lobbyists to get jobs in his administration and to negotiate over stimulus contracts."

read in full

Should Religious Organizations be required to Disclose Their Spending on Lobbying?

Nov 24, 2009 by Amanda Adams*

Earlier this month, Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) suggested that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) look into the work of the United States Council of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) for their extensive lobbying on the health care bill. Woolsey charged the work "was more than mere advocacy."

read in full

Lawmakers Use Statements Written by Lobbyists, Is Congress Just Lazy?

Nov 17, 2009 by Amanda Adams*

The New York Times found that more than a dozen members of Congress used almost indistinguishable talking points on health care reform ghostwritten by lobbyists. Lobbyists representing a biotech firm drafted separate language for Democrats and for Republicans. "The lobbyists, employed by Genentech and by two Washington law firms, were remarkably successful in getting the statements printed in the Congressional Record under the names of different members of Congress."

read in full