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Home :  Nonprofit Issues :  Advocacy Blog : 
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Advocacy Blog


Wednesday, August 24, 2005

Brennan Cntr to Report on Television Advertising
The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law and the Justice at Stake Campaign are teaming up to provide regular snapshots of the television advertising campaigns for and against the confirmation of Judge John Roberts to the U.S. Supreme Court, the two public interest groups announced today. The Brennan Center and Justice at Stake regularly collaborate on analyses of interest group advertising in state Supreme Court elections.

The research and analysis will provide valuable insight into messages being employed by interest groups, where resources are being spent, and which Senators' votes are being targeted in the confirmation process.

The data -- which will reflect advertising buys made in the nation's top 100 broadcast television Designated Market Areas (DMAs) -- will shed light on the interest groups that are lining up to support or oppose Judge Roberts' confirmation. The public hearings for Judge Robert's confirmation begin Sept. 6, though TV advertising has been under way for weeks.

"The public has a right to know who is spending what to affect the confirmation of a new U.S. Supreme Court Justice," noted Deborah Goldberg, Democracy Program director at the Brennan Center. "But many 527 organizations will not file official reports until the end of this year, and other major advertisers may not disclose their finances at all. This study helps to close that gap."

"Interest groups are mobilizing around the Roberts nomination, just as they've been getting more involved in state Supreme Court elections," said Bert Brandenburg, executive director of Justice at Stake. "This project will provide the best snapshot to date of interest group efforts to influence America's courts."

The Brennan Center and Justice at Stake project will include information on when and where the ads ran, who paid for the ads, as well as how many spots were aired and the estimated cost of each advertising purchase. The groups will issue periodic updates of the data as it becomes available, and will also post storyboards and streaming video of each ad online (subject to availability).

The data for the project is gathered by TNS-Media Intelligence/CMAG, which tracks the nation's top 100 DMAs and provides estimates on the cost of each television spot. Reporters who wish to receive e-mail updates as the data becomes available should contact Jesse Rutledge of Justice at Stake at 202-588-9454 or jrutledge@justiceatstake.org.


Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 12:11:39 PM



Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Op-Ed Argues for More Aggressive FEC Commissioners
Op-Ed from TomPaine.com: "Nominees for important government posts will be announced in a matter of days, and the radical suggestion of Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Russ Feingold, D-Wis., is this: Appoint capable individuals inclined to carry out their legally mandated duties."

In the article, James Sample is arguing that the current FEC commissioners is too "hands-off" and that the Commission should bring in people that are going to be more aggressive in their oversight of campaign finance law.

Check out the article



Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 01:44:54 PM



Friday, August 19, 2005

TIGTA Recommends Better Monitoring of 527 Groups
A Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration report released today said 527 political organizations are not always reporting contribution and expenditure information completely or in a timely manner.

TIGTA, which examined samples of Section 527 disclosure reports filed with the Internal Revenue Service between Jan. 1, 2002, and July 2, 2004, estimated that 527s may have received $26.8 million in contributions prior to filing Form 8871, Political Organization Notice of Section 527 Status--contributions that should have been reported as taxable income and would be subject to approximately $9.4 million in tax.

TIGTA said that an estimated 580 Section 527 political organizations may have started receiving contributions or making expenditures before notifying IRS of their existence.

Internal Revenue Code Section 527 requires each political organization desiring tax exempt status to notify IRS using Form 8871 that it is to be treated as a 527 political organization.

Read the report

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 09:29:46 AM



Tuesday, August 16, 2005

FEC Draft Rulemaking on Electioneering Communications
The FEC released the General Counsel’s proposed changes in the rules on "electioneering communications": communications paid by corporations and unions that, because they refer to a federal candidate, cannot be aired within 30 days of a primary and 60 days of a general election. This is another in a series of adjustments to the Shays v. FEC litigation. The District Court had rejected one aspect of the Commission’s EC rule and complained that another was insufficiently considered and explained. Now the General Counsel has a new rule to offer.

Especially concerning nonprofits are:

1. What to do about the Court’s unhappiness with the unqualified exemption for 501(c)(3)s;

2. What to do about the Court’s objection to any requirement that "electioneering communications" be defined to include only communications placed for broadcast for a fee;

Throughout the Counsel's analysis runs a reference: PASO ("promote support attack or oppose"). This rulemaking proposal puts to the Commission, unavoidably, the question of whether it will condition exemption for various kinds of political communications on the absence of any language that could be deemed to "promote, attack, support or oppose" a federal candidate.

1. PASOs and 501(c)(3)s. Under current rules, 501(c)(3)s were entirely exempt, on the assumption that the tax code, which prohibits their intervention in political campaigns, would serve the purposes of the FECA as well in keeping them in line—i.e., apolitical. But the Shays Court was skeptical, questioning whether the FEC should leave the decisions on enforcement to the IRS. The General Counsel proposes to emphasize the FEC’s responsibility to monitor 501(c)(3) behavior, without waiting on the alertness of the IRS. But the OGC draft suggests that the exemption might be conditioned on the absence of PASO in any 501(c)(3) communications, such as grassroots lobbying communications which the Code permits them, on a limited basis, to conduct.

2. PASO and the "fee" paid for broadcasts. The Commission wishes to preserve the ability of stations to run public service advertisements featuring federal candidates. These ads are run without a fee; and the Shays Court believed that, even if unpaid, these ads constitute "electioneering communications." The Commission suggests that perhaps the PSAs could be let free, in the public interest, if any such ad is devoid of the offending PASO language.

The proposed rule can be found here

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 03:13:57 PM



Big PhRMA Spends a Ton of $$in CA for Ballot Initiatives
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the D.C.-based lobbying outfit for the pharmaceutical industry, has raised more than $72 million to get its message out about two ballot initiatives in California. And that pot of money is raising the ire of the group’s opponents.

“Our perspective is, it’s an outrageous amount of money. It’s out of bounds with normal [ballot-initiative] spending,” said Kristina Wilfore, executive director of the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center in D.C, a liberal clearinghouse for ballot measures across the country. “The drug companies are making such big profits, they think they can buy this.”

The fund’s major donors include GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson, among others.

According to Wilfore’s group, the coffers of the PhRMA California Initiative Fund are larger than any other single industry group that has worked on ballot initiatives in the past, although some industries have come close. Automakers ponied up $65 million in 1988 when the state was considering five auto insurance reform measures, and tribal gaming interests raised more than $63 million in 1998 over a casino amendment.

The drug companies are fighting against Proposition 79, which would help state negotiators secure cheaper prescription drug prices for uninsured residents by removing from the Medi-Cal preferred drug list the drugs from companies that wouldn’t participate in the discount program. At the same time, PhRMA and its allies are pushing for Proposition 78, a measure similar to one in Ohio that would establish a discount drug program in the state.

For more of this story... (Subscription Required)

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 12:04:09 PM



Wednesday, August 03, 2005

Preacher Praying for More S.C. Vacancies OK By IRS Rules
Today, Americans United put out a press release criticsing TV Preacher Pat Robertson's recent televised prayers to God to make more vacancies on the Supreme Court. However uncomfortable this may make proponets of church/state seperation, IRS rules allow all 501(c)(3)s, including churches, to talk about issues and policy positions, whether they be "conservative" or "liberal".

According to Americans United, "[s]peaking on his nationally broadcast “700 Club” program Aug. 2, Robertson blasted the court for “egregious decisions that have taken us far away from the Constitution.” Among the rulings under fire from Robertson were Roe v. Wade, rulings on the “the so-called separation of church and state,” decisions protecting the civil rights of gay people and the ruling barring the death penalty for juveniles."

Additionally, "[t]he Virginia Beach-based televangelist later launched into a prayer asking God for swift confirmation of Bush nominee John G. Roberts and more vacancies on the high court so that new justice can “dramatically change” judicial policy."

The IRS rules allow for the free expression on political matters by leaders of churches or religious organizations speaking for themselves, as individuals. Nor are leaders prohibited from speaking about important issues of public policy.

For more information on the IRS rules govering Churches.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 12:49:37 PM



Tuesday, August 02, 2005

EAC Issues Guidance on Statewide Voter Registration Lists
The Election Assistance Commission, which is charged with implementing the Help America Vote Act, has issued VOLUNTARY GUIDANCE ON IMPLEMENTATION OF STATEWIDE VOTER REGISTRATION LISTS, which are intended to "assist States in their efforts to develop and implement a single, uniform, official, centralized, interactive computerized statewide voter registration list."

Many new voters had problems at the polls in 2004, with faulty voter registration lists. The new guidance "may help election officials understand HAVA’s establishment of a single, uniform statewide voter registration list and the responsibilities that HAVA places on all election officials to assure that the names and information contained in the statewide voter registration list are accurate, secure and complete."





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