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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Wynn, Pence Introduce Bill to Strip BCRA Limits

Mar 10, 2005 by Guest Blogger

Reps. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) and Albert Wynn (D-Md.) plan to introduce legislation that would once again allow the national party committees to raise and spend soft money. Instead of reigning in 527s, Pence and Wynn are seeking to give the parties parity in the soft- money chase. They believe BCRA went too far in “imposing severe constraints” on the parties, unjustly weakening them against the fundraising power of the 527 groups.

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Jim Wallis Calls Budget "Un-Christian"

Mar 10, 2005 by Kay Guinane

Interesting op-ed from Jim Wallis about how our budget is decidely "un-Christian". The budget slashes funds to deperately needed social programs - and expects that faith-based organizations, given a pittance of money through faith-based grants, is going to make up for it. How is that possible when even faith-based grants are getting cut?

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Charities Opening Doors to Outside Inspectors

Mar 10, 2005 by Kay Guinane

Some major international charities are opening their doors for the first time to outside inspectors, allowing them to certify that donations are spent as advertised. The charities, Kansas City-based Children International among them, say they hope that thorough inspections and a new industry seal of approval will assuage public fears of donations being misused. The nonprofits are also trying to keep ahead of a movement in Congress to impose regulations on the fast-growing but largely unsupervised world of nongovernmental organizations. Click here for the scoop...

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Evangelical Groups Work to Combat Global Warming

Mar 10, 2005 by Kay Guinane

Interesting article in the New York Times about how the National Association of Evangelicals is working to influence the debate on global warming. Check it out!

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News Coverage of Senate Hearing on 527 Bill

Mar 9, 2005 by Guest Blogger

For details on the Senate Rules Committee's March 8 hearing on the 527 Reform Act of 2005 see:

New York Times Concern Grows About Role of Interest Groups in Elections
National Public RadioMorning Edition Congress Aims to Clamp Down on 527s
More Soft Money Hard Law web updates by attorney Bob Bauer 527s (and 501(c)s) and the Hill
McClatchy Newspapers Congress Considers Changes to 527 Funding Rules
Knight-Ridder newspapersLott Pushes to Close Campaign Finance Loophole on Advocacy Groups

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High Cost of Independent Sector Panel on Accountability

Mar 9, 2005 by Kay Guinane

The Nonprofit Times has published an article on the costs of the IS panel on accountability.

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Coalition of Nonprofits Opposes 527 Bill

Mar 8, 2005 by Kay Guinane

The Coalition to Protect Independent Political Speech has sent a letter to members of Congress urging them to oppose the 527 Reform Act of 2005. The letter says, "These organizations have contributed to the revitalization of American democracy, helping bring millions of people back to the process of governing the country by bringing them back to the polls.”

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Faith-Based Roundup

House Vote on Jobs Act Would Codify Religious Discrimination, Opponents Await Senate Vote On March 3, the House approved H.R. 27, the Job Training Improvement Act, which would allow publicly funded religious agencies to hire and fire workers based on their religious beliefs. A coalition of organizations had urged the House to reject the bill unless it was amended to ensure that workers could not be discriminated against on religious grounds in federally supported social service programs.

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Independent Sector Report Urges Nonprofit Accountability

On March 1, Independent Sector's (IS) Panel on the Nonprofit Sector presented its Interim Report on nonprofit accountability, calling for voluntary action by nonprofits, increased enforcement by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and action by Congress, to Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), chair of the Senate Finance Committee. A hearing on proposals for legislative action is expected this spring. The Panel is expected to publish a final report before summer.

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Jones Continues to Misrepresent Rights of Houses of Worship

On March 2, Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) formally introduced the Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act (H.R. 235). The bill would amend the Internal Revenue Code to allow religious organizations to endorse or oppose candidates and engage in partisan activity as long as it is part of a religious event. Currently, all 501(c)(3) organizations, including houses of worship, are prohibited from intervening in elections. Supporters of the bill claim religious leaders are afraid to speak out on political issues.

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