Nonprofit Speech Rights | Center for Effective Government

Social Justice Grantmaking Rises, Shifts Toward Pragmatism

A significant proportion of grantmakers who fund public policy, advocacy, and other social-change activities are increasingly moving away from supporting grassroots advocacy and movement-building. Instead, these funders are choosing more "neutral, technocratic, and results-oriented" approaches to social change, like research, policy analysis, and outreach to decision-makers.

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Tell Leadership To Hold The Line and Bring the GSE Bill to the Floor!

The Republican Study Committee is pushing to disqualify any nonprofit that lobbies or carries on other advocacy activities from applying for grants under a proposed new affordable housing program. This is another incident in a long string of attempts to silence nonprofits by introducing new restrictions for separate programs. A similar attempt to limit advocacy by disability groups was defeated in 2003 when thousands of nonprofits raised objections.

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Justice Department Documents Illustrate Need for More Disclosure on LDA Enforcement

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently released compliance information for the first time in the 10-year history of the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA). The information reveals that it has pursued only 13 violations out of approximately 200 referrals in the past two years. Recent legislation introduced by Reps. Marty Meehan (D-MA) and Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) in the House and Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) in the Senate calls for lobbyists to file quarterly lobbying statements and would require disclosure and regulation of grass-roots activity.

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Nonprofits and Katrina

The nonprofit sector has really stepped up to the plate in responding to the crises left in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Now the federal government is responding with laws and regulations that will assist nonprofits providing relief in the Gulf Coast.

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Gag Orders Lifted; Judge Tells FBI It Can No Longer Silence Discussion of PATRIOT Act

In a victory for First Amendment advocates, a federal judge lifted a gag order on a Connecticut library from whom the FBI demanded patrons' records, allowing them to discuss openly their experience and participate in the broader debate about the PATRIOT Act. The judge issued a preliminary injunction against the government, barring it from enforcing gag orders on recipients of certain orders called National Security Letters (NSL), created under the PATRIOT Act.

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OMB Watch Urges Charities to Comment on Proposed FEC Rule

The ability of nonprofits to use broadcast media for advocacy and to encourage citizen participation in public policy debates could be severely limited by proposed rules meant to regulate federal campaign finance. The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is reviewing rules that exempt unpaid broadcasts and 501(c)(3) organizations from a provision meant to limit campaign attack ads funded with soft money. The review is the result of a court case challenging a host of regulations implementing the Bipartisan Campaign Act of 2002 (BCRA).

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Roberts Documents Show Troubling Disregard for Nonprofit Rights, Desire Not to 'Alienate' Industry

Recently released documents related to the nomination of John Roberts for chief justice of the Supreme Court reveal concerns he had over a 1983 proposal that would have prohibited recipients of federal grants or contracts from using their own money for lobbying and other forms of advocacy. The nonprofit community congratulated itself for beating back this "defund the left" proposal. The documents, however, suggest that what was heralded as a victory for nonprofits may have had more to do with the potential negative impact of the proposal on defense contactors such as TRW and Boeing.

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Debate Over Grants Rules Heats Up as Groups Lose Funds, Challenge Policy

DKT International, a Washington-based charitable organization, has filed suit against the U.S. government over a grant condition that dictates organizations adopt a specific policy statement, while a second organization has lost federal funding as a result of a suit brought for noncompliance with grants rules for faith-based organizations.

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FBI Documents Reveal Further Spying on Peace, Civil Rights Groups

Joint Terrorism Task Forces conducted surveillance of peace, civil rights and animal rights groups in Michigan and Colorado, according to documents released as part of a suit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) accusing the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of misuse of anti-terrorism funds. The ACLU is seeking documents for 16 organizations and ten individuals nationwide relating to the case, in which the ACLU alleges the FBI used state task forces to spy on domestic advocacy groups that oppose Bush administration policies.

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American League of Lobbyists Proposes Principles to Guide Congressional Reform

Responding to Democratic-sponsored lobbying and ethics reform bills recently introduced in the House and Senate, the American League of Lobbyists (ALL) recently adopted a set of principles to guide lobbying reform. Among its recommendations is an expansion of the definition of lobbying to cover all types of legislative advocacy efforts, include advertising, media campaigns and grassroots efforts that are currently exempt from filing and disclosure requirements forms.

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