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

Senate Committee Hears GAO Testimony on New Report on Terrorist Watchlist

An October 2007 report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) addresses lingering weaknesses in the Terrorist Screening Center (TSC) watchlist. GAO's report provides insight into what further actions can be taken by government agencies to enhance the accuracy of anti-terrorism screening efforts. The GAO report was released just as the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee held a hearing on the reliability of the Terrorist Screening System.

read in full

Lobbying and Ethics Reforms Being Implemented

President Bush signed the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 (HLOGA), S.1, on Sept. 14; revised House ethics rules took effect in March. The focus of these reforms has now shifted to implementation of the changes. Congressional officials have started developing the new forms and guidance that will be used by lobbyists to comply with the law. The Federal Election Commission (FEC) has proposed new regulations to implement campaign contribution bundling disclosure requirements. From lobbyists to lawyers, nonprofits, and members of Congress themselves, all parties in Washington have begun preparing for these and other adjustments to their current practices.

read in full

Short Colbert Campaign Stirs Election Law Debate

On Oct. 16, Comedy Central comedian Stephen Colbert used his nightly television show to announce that he was running for President of the United States and would file to get on both the Democratic and Republican primary ballots in his home state of South Carolina. The campaign was cut short on Nov. 1 when the South Carolina Democratic Party Executive Committee voted 13-3 to reject his application to get on the ballot. Colbert did not file to run as a Republican because of the party's $35,000 filing fee.

read in full

New Report Highlights Experts' Call for Consistency in IRS Treatment of Charities at Election Time

WASHINGTON, Nov. 1, 2007—Today, OMB Watch released a report summarizing an Aug. 3 panel discussion that addressed the pros and cons of creating a bright-line rule defining what is and is not prohibited partisan intervention in elections by charities and religious organizations.

read in full

"Advocacy Is Not A Dirty Word"

Oct 31, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

Author of Seen but not Heard: Strengthening Nonprofit Advocacy, and Executive Director of OMB Watch, Gary Bass has written an op-ed appearing in the Chronicle of Philanthropy addressing the importance of advocacy in the nonprofit sector.

read in full

Holy Land Trial Closing Argument Summaries

Oct 29, 2007 by Kay Guinane

We have found very useful summaries of the closing arguments in the criminal trial against the Holy Land Foundation and 5 of its leaders.

summary of closing arguments by the prosecution
summary of closing arguments by the defense

read in full

FISA Amendments Update

Oct 29, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to consider reforms to the Foreign Intelligence Surveilance Act (FISA) this Wednesday (Oct.31). This follows the Senate Intelligence Committee's passage of S.2248. The committee's report on the bill highlights what occurred during their closed door mark up hearing. The report states that telecommunications companies participating in the surveillance program received regular letters affirming that President Bush authorized the program.

read in full

Pennsylvania Will not Release Polling Locations?!

Oct 26, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

Reportedly, a list of polling places in Pennsylvania will not be publicized because state officials are concerned that terrorists could disrupt elections. This decision was influenced by the terrorist bombings that occurred days before Spain's national elections in 2004. However, information on individual polling places will remain available on the state voter services web site. Many nonprofit organizations that conduct get-out-the-vote efforts will certainly face difficulties because of this.

read in full

FEC Will Allow Hearings for Violators of Election Law

Oct 26, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) will allow hearings for those accused of federal election law violations. According to CQ Politics;

read in full

Insurmountable Watch List

Oct 26, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

On Wednesday (Oct. 24) the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee held a hearing titled, "Watching the Watch List: Building an Effective Terrorist Screening System." The hearing focused on the rapidly growing size of the Terrorist Screening Center (TSC) watch list, the centralized watch list that brings together all of the government lists of potential terrorists into one master list.

read in full