Center for Effective Government | Because government matters

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CFC Issues Terror List Check Guidance

After months of silence the Combined Federal Campaign has issued guidance on how charities participating in this workplace-giving program for federal employees should implement its requirement that they certify they do not knowingly employ persons on various government terrorist watch lists. The CFC Memorandum 2004-12 provides background information and clarification, but does not change the interpretation that led a dozen nonprofits to file suit to block the policy.

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Court Narrows Faith-Based Suit

A law suit claiming sweeping constitutional problems with the Bush administration's faith-based initiative has been largely defanged by a court's decision that the plaintiff does not have standing to file the suit. The dismissal of all but a small portion of a lawsuit means the merits of the case remain undecided in the courts.

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OMB Watch Launches Advocacy Blog

OMB Watch's nonprofit advocacy project is pleased to announce the launch of its new "Advocacy Blog". "Weblog," and "blog," are popular terms to denote a website (or a portion of a website) that contains short, frequent posts and Web links. The entries are usually sorted in reverse chronological order and archived by category and date. OMB Watch's new blog will cover a wide range of nonprofit issues, and will be updated throughout the week by OMB Watch staff. We are confident you will find it a valuable resource.

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IRS Initiates Pay, Reporting Enforcement Effort

As part of a stepped-up enforcement effort, the Internal Revenue Service Exempt Organizations division (EO) is sending letters to approximately 2,000 charities asking them to detail their method of determining executive compensation. EO Director Martha Sullivan estimates 25 percent of organizations receiving the letter will be examined further. In a related issue, the IRS is contacting charities that have not answered question 89B of Tax Form 990. Question 89B deals with excess benefit transactions, and is considering the use of penalties up to $50,000.

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FEC Schedules New Rulemaking in 2005

Beginning in January 2005 the Federal Election Commission (FEC) will begin an intense seven-month series of proceedings to amend rules implementing the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA) rejected by a federal court this fall, and take up new issues generated by this year's election. Among those with greatest impact on nonprofits will be expansion of regulation into Internet communications, reconsideration of the electioneering communications exemption for 501(c)(3) groups and party donations to nonprofits. At its Nov. 18 meeting the FEC approved a

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Intelligence Bill Erodes Right To Know

When House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) refused to bring the intelligence reform bill to a vote because Republicans in the House of Representatives opposed it, some open government advocates breathed a sigh of relief. As the bill moved through Congress, lawmakers dropped or severely limited the 9/11 Commission's recommendations to strengthen openness throughout the federal government.

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Committee Releases Clarke's Declassified Testimony

The Senate Committee on Intelligence Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS) finally released declassified testimony from former White House Counterterrorism Chief Richard Clarke regarding the 9/11 investigation. As reported in a previous OMB Watcher article, Roberts refused to release the testimony publicly, even though officials declassified it earlier this year. The testimony gained attention after critics asserted that Clarke made statements this past March regarding pre-9/11 intelligence that conflicted with the earlier testimony.

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Jersey to Withhold Hazardous Waste Records

A proposed rule in New Jersey would keep important health and safety information secret, possibly endangering residents that live near chemical plants, or workers that are employed at a number of different facilities.

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CSX Refuses to Disclose Hazardous Waste Re-Routing

Rail companies that operate in and around Washington, DC, refuse to reveal whether or not hazardous chemicals are being re-routed around the city. Rail companies may be voluntarily re-routing trains, but the public will not be informed.

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Court Dismisses First Data Quality Act Case

In the first Data Quality Act case to be handled by the courts, a U.S. District Court has ruled that challenges under the DQA and its subsequent guidelines to agencies are not judicially reviewable. A previous court decision addressed the issue of reviewability, but the legal claim in that case was not limited to data quality.

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