The Federal Times reports that nonprofit leaders are advocating for the creation of a new agency that would regulate the nonprofit sector. The IRS is the main agency dealing with nonprofits because of the tax code, but no agency strictly deals with supporting, monitoring, and regulating nonprofit organizations. The nonprofit sector is also increasingly growing, which has caused increased Congressional interest.

Rather than respond to a hodgepodge of legislation from the Hill, [Steve] Gunderson and other nonprofit advocates are asking whether it would be better to have an agency devoted to promoting and monitoring the nonprofit sector.

The National Council of Nonprofit Associations proposed the idea of a Small Business Administration-like agency for nonprofits in 2004. Such an agency could offer training and management assistance for community and faith-based organizations, the group proposed.

The Miami Herald reported that Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics In Washington (CREW) filed a Federal Election Commission (FEC) complaint against Leopoldo Fernandez Pujals, a foreign national, and Mauricio Claver-Carone, Gus Machado, Cuba Democracy Advocates, Inc. and the US-Cuba Democracy PAC for violations of federal campaign finance law. CREW claims that the Cuban-American lobbying organization that favors tougher sanctions against Cuba broke FEC regulations by having illegal links to the nonprofit group Cuba Democracy Advocates Inc.

Leopoldo Fernández Pujals founded two nonprofit U.S. organizations in 2000 to oppose the communist government, using some of the proceeds of his $366 million sale of Spanish fast-food chain Telepizza in 1999, according to the FEC complaint. Those two organizations eventually became Cuba Democracy Advocates, and Fernández appointed Mauricio Claver-Carone as director and Miami-Dade car dealer Gus Machado as treasurer. Machado then went on to create the PAC and Claver-Carone became its Washington director.

The complaint and related documents from CREW can be found here.

Posted by Amanda Adams, 12:54:30 PM