Protecting Nonprofit Rights

New Posts

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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FISA Bill Moves Along Without Changes

Feb 8, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

Even though they gave themselves more time to consider amendments, none of the amendments offered to improve S.2248 have passed. Two amendments offered by Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) failed. One was meant to block "reverse targeting," which is when a foreign subject is the surveillance target while in actuality the intended target is in the U.S. The second amendment would have given the FISA court the ability to prevent the government from using information about Americans when obtained in a way that was later decided as illegal.

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How are the Candidates Going to Help the Nonprofit Sector?

Feb 8, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

A blog posting titled "Bird-Dogging and Blogging the Primaries" observes that "until now, it would have seemed implausible that nonprofits and presidential politics would go hand-in hand. Activism is ubiquitous in communities; yet, on the whole the organizations that facilitate and conduct it are ignored by policy makers and politicians." The blog is promoting the new V3 campaign which shows candidates' responses to questions regarding the nonprofit sector created by Robert Egger.

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Join the 2008 Election Discussion

Feb 7, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

The Chronicle of Philanthropy will be hosting an online discussion next Tuesday February 12, at noon, Eastern time on the election and what it means for nonprofits. Experts on philanthropy and politics will be answering questions and if a question is submitted in advance, there is a better chance that it will be answered during the discussion. To submit a question, click here. The discussion is open to everyone, not just subscribers, so go ahead and ask a question!

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National Association of Manufacturers Sues to Block Member Disclosure Law

Feb 6, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) has filed a lawsuit, National Association of Manufacturers v.

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California Bill Would Require Foundations to Disclose Detailed Information in the name of Diversity

Feb 6, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

Last week the California Assembly passed a bill that would require big foundations ($250 million in assets and more) to disclose the race, gender and sexual orientation of their board, staff, and even grantees and business contracts. The bill is now headed to the State Senate. The Chronicle of Philanthropy ($$) outlines what is included in the bill.
  • The number of grants and percentage of dollars going to organizations where at least 50 percent of the board, of staff members, are members of ethnic minorities, or are lesbians, gays, bisexuals, or transgender people.

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House Oversight Hearing on Voter Suppression

Feb 5, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

The House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties will hold an oversight hearing on voter suppression this Friday, February 8. In preparation, last week Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) and Subcommittee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) sent a letter to former Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, requesting his testimony at the hearing. The letter stated;

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Charity Charged with Violating Economic Sanctions in Grants to Orphanage

The Islamic American Relief Agency (IARA-USA) and five of its leaders have been charged with engaging in prohibited transactions with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, an Afghan rebel leader who was designated as a terrorist in 2003. IARA-USA, which was shut down in October 2004, was funding an orphanage in the Shamshatu Refugee Camp in Pakistan that is located on land belonging to Hekmatyar. The defendants are not charged with supporting terrorism. The leaders, along with a former member of Congress, Mark J. Siljander, have also been charged with misappropriating funds from a federal grant to pay for Siljander to lobby for IARA-USA's removal from a Senate list of organizations suspected of supporting terrorism. The trial is scheduled for November.

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More Blurry Lines: IRS Warns on Web Links, Primaries Continue to Generate Complaints to Agency

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has warned that links from 501(c)(3) organization websites to other sites may be considered partisan if the facts and circumstances of the link indicate support or opposition for candidates. In addition, Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU) lodged new complaints about possible partisan intervention in elections, which involve voter guides and the content of a newsletter.

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FISA Up Next Week

Feb 1, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

After days of negotiations over how to proceed with a bill to revise to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), CQ ($$) has reported that the Senate will now vote next week with two days of debate after coming to an agreement as far as which amendments to allow. Meanwhile, allowing Congress more time, President Bush has passed a 15 day extension (until Feb. 16) of the Protect America Act.

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President Requests Permanent Extension of Charitable Choice

Feb 1, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

In his final State of the Union speech, President George W. Bush called on Congress "to permanently extend Charitable Choice;" provisions in a number of federal laws that require states to include faith-based organizations among the service providers whenever they offer the same contracts to other private, nonprofits.

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Resources & Research

Living in the Shadow of Danger: Poverty, Race, and Unequal Chemical Facility Hazards

People of color and people living in poverty, especially poor children of color, are significantly more likely...

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A Tale of Two Retirements: One for CEOs and One for the Rest of Us

The 100 largest CEO retirement funds are worth a combined $4.9 billion, equal to the entire retirement account savings of 41 percent of American fam...

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Blowing Smoke: Chemical Companies Say “Trust Us,” But Environmental and Workplace Safety Violations Belie Their Rhetoric

Large chemical companies a...

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Gasping for Support: Implementation of Tougher Air Quality Standards Will Require New Funds for State Agencies

New scientific research shows that the current levels of...

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