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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more news

More on the FEC and 527s

Jun 1, 2006 by Guest Blogger

For more on 527s: Bob Bauer's Blog Kate Phillips, "Election Panel Won't Issue Donation Rules," New York Times (May 31, 2006).

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FEC Will Provide Further Explanation on 527s Instead of New Rule

Jun 1, 2006 by Guest Blogger

The Federal Election Commission voted yesterday, 4 to 2, not to appeal a U.S. District Court opinion mandating either a new rulemaking or further explanation of the political committee definition - specifically, how "527s organizations" are regulated. According to the Washington Post,

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NAACP Releases Information on IRS Audit

Seven Republican members of Congress filed complaints with the IRS in 2004, claiming the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) engaged in partisan electioneering, leading to an IRS probe, according to agency documents released to the NAACP under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The NAACP has asked the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) to review the IRS's failure to fully respond to its FOIA requests.

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GAO Report on EPA Grants Management

May 31, 2006 by Guest Blogger

GAO was asked to look at EPA's progress in implementing grant reforms in four areas, one of which was monitoring grantees. To see the report

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USAID Pledge Requirement Again Found Unconstitutional

A second federal judge has ruled that a sweeping restriction on the privately funded speech of groups participating in the federal government's international HIV/AIDS program violates the First Amendment.

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Treasury Will Revise Anti-Terrorist Financing Guidelines

A Treasury Department official, speaking at a gathering of attorneys, announced that the department is revising its Anti-Terrorist Financing Guidelines: Voluntary Best Practices for U.S.-Based Charities, based on public comments submitted last February. According to the official, the revisions are undergoing review and the department hopes to release them soon. This will be the third version of the Guidelines, since their release in November 2002; earlier versions have been criticized for hindering legitimate charity work.

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OMB Watch in the News

May 31, 2006 by Guest Blogger

An editorial in today's Washington Examiner details the importance of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (S. 2590), commonly known as Coburn-Obama-Carper-McCain.

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Lobby Reform in the States

May 31, 2006 by Guest Blogger

While some states have passed strict lobby reform measures, some are still treading water. From the Hill: Worried that “state legislatures get tarred with the same brush” being used to paint Congress as corrupt, Minnesota state Sen. Linda Higgins, a Democrat, co-wrote an ethics bill that would have prevented ex-members from lobbying former colleagues for two years and have imposed new financial disclosure requirements for lawmakers.

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Where Were These Voices? By Butch Otter

May 31, 2006 by Guest Blogger

Great post in The Hill's blog by Rep. C.L. "Butch" Otter:

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Nonprofit Civic Engagement Critical

May 31, 2006 by Guest Blogger

"Many of the more than 1 million organizations that have 501(c)3 tax exemption choose to flex their civic muscles during the election season, abiding by rules that prohibit them from supporting or opposing any candidate for public office," writes Alliance for Justice's Vanessa Dick. See complete article in the Philanthropy Journal.

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