Elections and Issue Advocacy

Elections and Issue Advocacy: News Background Analysis Correspondence Blog

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See our Nov. 2007 report Overcaution and Confusion: The Impact of Ambiguous IRS Regulation of Political Activities by Charities and the Potential for Change

PACI2

The report is drawn from an Aug. 3, 2007 panel discussion on the potential for establishing a bright-line rule for IRS enforcement of the prohibition against partisan intervention in elections by charities and religious organizations.

See our report The IRS Political Activities Enforcement Program for Nonprofit Groups: Questions & Concerns

Subtopics

Resource Center: IRS Rules on Election Activities of Charities

News

Anti-Obama Group Seeks Exemption from Campaign Finance Rules 08/19/2008
A new 527 group called The Real Truth About Obama, Inc. (RTAO) has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Richmond, VA, against the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). RTAO plans to run issue ads examining the Democratic presidential candidate's position on abortion and other policy issues. RTAO argues it is not a political action committee (PAC) because it will not advocate for Obama's defeat or election. The group seeks to prevent the enforcement of several FEC regulations regarding when a group must register as a PAC, as well as the enforcement of federal reporting requirements for political organizations, including 527 groups. Read More

IRS Directive Broadens Scope of Prohibited Web Links on Issues 08/05/2008
On July 28, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) sent a memo to revenue agents that contradicts earlier guidance relating to 501(c)(3) organizations' use of web links for issue advocacy. The memo indicated that web links may be considered prohibited intervention in elections, depending on their context, the number of clicks between a site and a partisan message on the linked site, and whether an organization has a position on an issue and links to candidates' positions. Read More

Audit Faults IRS Political Activities Enforcement 07/08/2008
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) released an audit report on June 18 that found Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employees have an inconsistent understanding of prohibited political intervention by charities and religious organizations. It also found the IRS has not been timely in evaluating cases under investigation. The report acknowledged improved educational efforts but failed to recognize the inherent difficulty in explaining the overly vague "facts and circumstances" test the IRS uses to determine if prohibited partisan activity has occurred. Read More

Grassroots Lobbying Campaign on Climate Bill Runs into FEC Rules 06/24/2008
Two recent grassroots media campaigns promoting action on climate change learned that campaign finance rules can be a trap for unwary advocates, illustrating how federal election law has reached beyond partisan campaigning to treat traditional grassroots issue advocacy like electioneering. Both ads appeared to comply with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) prohibition on intervention in elections. Read More

Pastor Invites IRS Scrutiny with Opposition to Candidates 06/24/2008
The Rev. Gus Booth of Warroad Community Church in Minnesota, a delegate to this year's Republican National Convention, gave a sermon in May urging the opposition of Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton. About two weeks after the sermon, Booth sent an e-mail message to Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU), noting that he had used his pulpit for partisan purposes and attaching a copy of a newspaper article describing the sermon. As a result, on June 11, AU asked the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to investigate the church for possible illegal campaign intervention in violation of its tax-exempt status. Read More

OMB Watch Calls for Clear IRS Rules for Election Activities 06/10/2008
In response to an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) request for input on its 2008-09 guidance priorities, OMB Watch submitted comments that stated the top IRS priority should be the creation of a bright-line definition of prohibited political intervention for charities and religious organizations exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC). The IRS is continuing its public education efforts to inform groups about the prohibition on partisan election activities and will soon release two field directives for IRS agents to guide them in enforcing the rules. Read More

IRS Drops Investigations of United Church of Christ and First Southern Baptist 05/28/2008
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has closed two investigations into accusations of illegal partisan electioneering by two religious organizations. The IRS determined that the United Church of Christ (UCC) did not violate its tax-exempt status by inviting Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) to speak at the denomination's national meeting in 2007. The IRS also found Pastor Wiley Drake's endorsement of Mike Huckabee to be a personal endorsement and not made on behalf of his church, the First Southern Baptist Church in Buena Park, CA. The IRS concluded the two investigations relatively quickly, compared to cases from the previous two election cycles. Read More

Group Plans to Challenge IRS Election Standard 05/13/2008
The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), an Arizona nonprofit organization, has launched an effort to encourage ministers to "preach from the pulpit a sermon that addresses the candidates for government office in light of the truth of Scripture." "Pulpit Freedom Sunday" is planned for Sunday, Sept. 28, slightly more than a month before the presidential election. The group will intentionally use sermons to challenge the Internal Revenue Code's ban on partisan electioneering by 501(c)(3) organizations. It hopes any investigations lead to a lawsuit and a court decision finding the prohibition to be unconstitutional. Read More

IRS to Continue Flawed Enforcement Program on Partisan Activities 04/29/2008
In an April 17 letter, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced that its enforcement program on partisan activities by charities and religious organizations will remain in effect for the 2008 election season. The IRS announcement provided some helpful information on how the agency will consider cases involving charities' websites, but it muddied the waters for organizations that publish voter guides. The announcement does little to mitigate the vagueness of the standard, a problem Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) addressed in a hearing where he called for a bright-line rule defining what is and is not allowed.

Read More

List of Known PACI Complaints 03/12/2008
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Political Activities Compliance Initiative (PACI) enforces the ban on partisan activity by charities and religious organizations. On June 8, 2007 the IRS released a report on the initial results of its 2006 program." The results of the enforcement program to date show a continued low level of violations, with the number of 2006 investigations remaining about the same compared to 2004. The types of activities selected for investigation indicate that many cases occur in gray areas of the law, such as allowing candidates to speak at organizational functions or distributing printed materials. Read More

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