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

Jefferson Raid Subject of Hearing, Legislation

May 31, 2006 by Guest Blogger

As ethics legislation continues to wait for its House-Senate conference, the House Judiciary Committee convened a hearing May 30 to discuss the raid on Rep. William Jefferson's (D-LA) office. Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) says subsequent legislation is required.

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How Fast Charities Respond to Disaster: From the Urban Institute

May 31, 2006 by Guest Blogger

How and how fast charitable organizations respond to major disasters can have lasting effects on victims, communities, donors, and society at large. A new series of papers from the Urban Institute examines how these organizations responded to recent disasters and suggests how to improve responses to future tragedies.

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FFRF Sues VA for Violation of Establishment Clause

May 30, 2006 by Guest Blogger

Interesting case filed by Freedom From Religion Foundation: On April 18, the Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) filed suit against officials of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), claiming that the VA's hospital chaplaincy program violates the Establishment Clause. FFRF has brought two previous lawsuits against government programs that link religion and healthcare. This case, should it be determined in FFRF's favor, could impact the historic use of chaplancy in various other aspects of healthcare. For more, see Professor Ira Lupu's analysis of the case.

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Summary of House Small Biz Hearing on Charitable Giving

May 25, 2006 by Guest Blogger

From the Council on Foundations: Charitable Giving the Focus of Subcommittee Hearing

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GAO Report on Taxes Charities Owe Under the CFC

May 25, 2006 by Guest Blogger

Find the GAO report here.

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Chronicle of Philathropy Article on Ways and Means Hearing

May 25, 2006 by Guest Blogger

From the Chronicle of Philathropy: Some interesting points from the hearing included: What's more, the Government Accountability Office said that the Office of Personnel Management, which oversees the Combined Federal Campaign, does not screen participating charities for federal tax problems "or independently validate with the IRS whether the charity is truly a tax-exempt organization."

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Ways and Means Hearing Today on CFC Employment Tax

May 25, 2006 by Guest Blogger

Ways and Means has posted the statements from the Ramstad hearing: Hearing on Charities and Employment Taxes: Are Charities in the Combined Federal Campaign Meeting their Employment Tax Responsibilities?

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How to Avoid an Audit: It Is All About Context

May 25, 2006 by Guest Blogger

On May 24, Jack Reilly, the Internal Revenue Service's technical advisor to the director of exempt organizations,told a group of tax-exempt law practitioners that there will be no new guidance before the November elections on what constitutes "political activity" for tax-exempt organizations.

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Who on the Hill Leaked the NSA Spying Info?

May 25, 2006 by Guest Blogger

From the Hill: The FBI is seeking interviews with top House Members from both parties to determine whether they leaked details of the National Security Agency’s domestic surveillance program to The New York Times, further fanning the flames of an already tense relationship between Capitol Hill and the Bush administration.

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Interesting Article on DOJ Pursuit of Corruption

May 25, 2006 by Guest Blogger

From the AP: The head of the FBI's criminal division was reluctant to say much about those searches. "We go where the evidence leads us," said James W. "Chip" Burrus Jr. But Burrus acknowledged in an interview Monday that corruption investigators "have had a run of good luck lately."

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