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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IRS Working To Finish 2004 Fast-Tracked Political Interventi

Nov 30, 2005 by Guest Blogger

From today's BNA:

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Nonprofits Urge Supreme Court to Protect Grassroots Communications

A diverse coalition of charities filed an amicus brief on Nov. 14 in the Supreme Court case Wisconsin Right to Life v. Federal Election Commission urging the court to protect the right of nonprofits to broadcast grassroots lobbying communications.

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Fate in Senate of Nonprofit Gag Provision Uncertain

Nonprofits Monitoring Other Legislation for Advocacy Restrictions After a stinging five vote loss in the House, nonprofit groups continue their efforts to oppose the inclusion of any restrictions on the use by nonprofits of private funds for nonpartisan voter registration and advocacy in the Senate's version of an affordable housing provision. At the same time, Head Start advocates are examining pending reauthorization legislation to determine if new language in it would restrict the use of private funds for Head Start grantees.

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Revised Nonprofit Anti-Terrorism Guidelines Expected This Week

This week the Treasury Department will likely release its revised anti-terrorism financing guidelines with broad implications for the nonprofit sector. The revision will likely emphasize that the guidelines are voluntary. It will also urge nonprofits to check the terrorist watch lists when doing business with any group or individual.

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CREW Makes IRS Complaint Against Focus on the Family

Nov 29, 2005 by Guest Blogger

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington is challenging Focus on the Family's tax-exempt status, claiming that founder James Dobson crossed clear IRS guidelines with his increased political involvement in recent years. The organization has asked the Internal Revenue Service to investigate and consider revoking the nonprofit corporation status of the Colorado Springs-based Christian media empire. The complaint focuses on Dobson's work on behalf of several Republican candidates in 2004, including Rep. Patrick Toomey's unsuccessful bid for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania.

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ACLU Files Suit in "Denver Three" Case

Nov 23, 2005 by Guest Blogger

A lawsuit filed yesterday by the ACLU was filed on behalf of Leslie Weise and Alex Young, who gained national attention after being removed from a March 21 event with President Bush. The presidential visit was open to the public and advertised as a town hall "conversation" on Social Security reform. But the ACLU lawsuit charges that Weise and Young, who had obtained tickets from the office of Representative Bob Beauprez and had caused no disruption at the town hall, were removed from the event solely because of their perceived political views.

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Russian Lower House Passes Restrictions on foreign-backed NG

Nov 23, 2005 by Guest Blogger

On Wednesday, Russia's lower house of parliament (Duma) passed the first reading of a controversial bill that would impose new restrictions on foreign-backed non-governmental organizations.

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Different Takes on Inquiry Into All Saints Church

Nov 22, 2005 by Guest Blogger

A couple of different takes on why All Saints Church did not violate the IRS' prohibition on partisan electoral activity. The New York Times article defends All Saints by reminding us that "issue advocacy" that mentions a federal candidate is allowable under the IRS, particularly when an organization has a history of criticism on a particular issue. OMB Watch advanced a similar arguement in a recent Watcher article. The article also has links to the sermon.

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Edwards, Kemp Ask Bush to Raise Problematic Russian Bill

Nov 21, 2005 by Guest Blogger

TheWall Street Journal reports that former Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) and former Rep. Jack Kemp (R-NY) sent a letter to President Bush requesting that he raise with Russian President Vladimir Putin the Russian proposal to curb foreign nonprofit organizations. The draft legislation would effectively bar foreign nongovernmental organizations from maintaining representative offices in Russia. If passed, it would affect the country's entire international nonprofit sector, ranging from think tanks such as the Carnegie Moscow Center to civil-liberties groups such as Human Rights Watch.

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