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Monday, December 19, 2005

Senate Dems Block Campaign Finance Provision in Defense Re-auth
From the AP

House Republicans abandoned a last-minute attempt to limit individual political donations to independent organizations Sunday, setting up for passage a military measure that had been stalled by the effort.

GOP leaders had sought to attach the campaign finance legislation to a final defense bill, a move aimed at hampering Democratic-aligned groups such as MoveOn.org that were a powerful voice in 2004 and could threaten GOP candidates next year.

A bipartisan group in the Senate joined House Democrats in criticizing the 11th-hour maneuver and refusing to sign off on the plan.

The standoff had put into question the fate of the bill that sets Pentagon policy and, like a separate defense spending measure, includes a ban on cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of foreign terrorism suspects in U.S. custody as well as other restrictions on detainee interrogation and prosecution.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 12:59:42 PM

Thursday, December 15, 2005

FEC Final Rule Does Not Exempt Charities
The FEC voted on the final rule for the 501(c)(3) electioneering communications exemption. There is no exemption for 501(c)(3)s. Check out the final rule.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 03:13:32 PM

Friday, December 09, 2005

FEC Intends to Vote On Changes to Electioneering Communications Rule
The FEC will consider on Dec. 15 amending the "electioneering communications" rule.

The FEC has to rewrite regulations implementing BCRA, and plan to vote at their next open meeting on a final rule change. Action follows a FEC request for comments on draft regulations, however, no regulations have been promulagated as of yet...

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 05:05:31 PM

FEC Posts Draft NPRM on Coordinated Communications
The Federal Election Commission this week issued a draft rule on “coordination.” This Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was initiated as a result of an order of U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, who ruled in Shays v. FEC that the FEC’s rule defining “coordination” undercut BCRA’s statutory purpose of regulating campaign finance and preventing circumvention of the campaign finance rules.

For the draft reulemaking

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 04:33:09 PM

Members of Congress Ask For GAO Rept. On IRS Church Inquiries
From the Chronicle of Philanthropy:

Three members of Congress have requested a federal investigation into news reports that the Internal Revenue Service conducts reviews of churches and other places of worship based on the content of sermons or other discourse delivered as part of religious services or gatherings.

"While the federal tax code prohibits tax-exempt organizations, including churches, from intervening in political campaigns and elections, we believe the faith community has every right to express itself in the political process and be heard," said the members of the House of Representatives in a letter to the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 03:33:28 PM

Thursday, December 08, 2005

Russia Proposal Would Crack Down on NGOs
Both the Washington Post and New York Times reported today the Sec. State Rice criticized Russia for moving against NGOs.

A proposed law, which will be voted on Dec. 16, would ban foreign NGOs and limit what foreigh grants and foreign employees Russian NGOs could have. All NGOs would have to re-register and a state agency would decide if they can continue to operate. Officials are defending the bill, saying it is needed to crack down on graft and stop terrorist influence over NGOs.

Rice's comments are interesting- makes one wish the Bush administration felt the same way about American nonprofits. For instance, she said "We would certainly hope that the importance of nongovernmental organizations to a stable democratic environment would be understood by the Russian government," and "Democracy is "built on the ability of citizens to associate themselves freely and to work to bring their government into a particular direction," Rice said. Nongovernmental organizations in Russia "are simply trying to help citizens to organize themselves better, to petition their government to make changes in the policies that affect their very lives. That's the essence of democracy."

Posted by Kay Guinane, 03:48:14 PM

Saturday, December 03, 2005

IRS Posts Political Intervention Project Guidelines
The Internal Revenue Service has posted on its website a memorandum sent to IRS agents and managers in March 2005, instructing them on how to implement the agency's Political Intervention Project (PIP). PIP was created to "fast track" investigations of 501(c)(3) organizations accused of engaging in improper political advocacy. The IRS is currently working on 130 PIP cases from the 2004 presidential election, approximately 50 of which involve churches accused of improper political activity.

Read the memo...

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 10:43:00 AM

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