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Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Hearing Held on Christian Civic League's Motion for Preliminary Injunction
From the James Madison Center:

On April 24, a three-judge panel consisting of Judith W. Rogers of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and Louis F. Oberdorfer and Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the D.C. District Court, heard arguments on the Christian Civic League of Maine’s (“CCL”) motion for preliminary injunction from James Bopp, Jr., General Counsel for the James Madison Center for Free Speech, and attorneys for the FEC and several Congressmen who intervened, If granted, the injunction would allow CCL to broadcast a grassroots lobbying advertisement in support of the federal Marriage Protection Amendment before a Senate vote on the measure in early June.

James Bopp, arguing for the injunction, emphasized the First Amendment’s protection of the right to lobby legislators on upcoming votes and the Supreme Court’s recognition in McConnell v. FEC, 540 U.S. 93 (2003) that applying the electioneering communication prohibition to such grassroots lobbying might be unconstitutional.

The FEC and intervenors’ attorneys argued that the Supreme Court unequivocally answered the question of CCL’s ad in McConnell, and argued for the need for a “bright line rule” that encompassed the ad that CCL wishes to run.

“If there were ever any questions about whether McConnell approved of prohibiting grassroots lobbying during the blackout period, they were answered in Wisconsin Right to Life, when the Supreme Court vacated the district court’s holding and remanded the case,” says Bopp. “The issue now is the parameters of the grassroots lobbying exception to the electioneering communication prohibition, and this court seemed to recognize that.”

A transcript of the hearing is available at the James Madison Center for Free Speech website, at http://www.jamesmadisoncenter.org.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 02:40:58 PM

Coalition Sends Letter Opposing 527 Provision to House
A group of organizations (OMB Watch included) recently signed a letter protesting the inclusion of a 527 provision in the House lobby reform bill.

Click herefor the letter.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 02:25:58 PM

Watchodogs Lobby Against Reform Bill
WASHINGTON - APRIL 25 - Common Cause, Democracy 21 and Public Citizen on Tuesday urged House members to vote against the so-called lobby reform bill the House is expected to consider unless it is greatly strengthened on the House floor. The watchdog groups say the current form of the legislation is a pathetic response to the Abramoff lobbying scandal that does nothing to curb the 'anything goes' culture in Washington and cannot credibly be called reform.

For more, please click here.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 11:42:39 AM

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Nationwide Call for 501c Organizations on 527 Legislation
From the Alliance for Justice:

Conference Call for 501(c) Sector: Why 501(c)s should be concerned about 527 Reform legislation

Proposals to reform the political nonprofits known as “527s” are once again moving through Congress. The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed H.R. 513, the 527 Reform Act of 2006, and similar 527 reform legislation may be added as an amendment to the House’s final lobbying reform bill. While 527 reform was not included in the Senate’s lobbying reform package, the Senate is expected to address 527 Reform later this spring.

In light of this legislative activity, we invite all 501(c) organizations to participate in a nationwide conference call: Thursday, April 27, 2006, at 3:30 EST

Call-in Number: 866-365-4406

Access Code: 5304255

This nationwide conference call will feature:

Liz Towne of Alliance for Justice,
David Keating of Club for Growth and
Larry Gold of Lichtman, Trister & Ross.

Please RSVP for the call to kyle@afj.org.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 04:01:12 PM

Washington Post on Ohio Churches
The Washington Poston the Ohio Churches complaint to the IRS

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 03:54:01 PM

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

CCL Case to Be Heard on April 24
From the 11:23:45 AM

Freddie Mac Hit With Record Breaking FEC Fine
The Federal Election Commission has awarded a record $3.8 million fine to Freddie Mac, the government-chartered home mortgage company, for violations of campaign fundraising laws.

The FEC believes that Freddie Mac, through its government relations firm, compensated a corporation for producing campaign fundraising events.

Freddie Mac, for its part, contends that the retainer “was paid solely to compensate Epiphany for services unrelated to Mr. Delk’s fundraising events,” including “political and legislative advice.”

Read more on this issue in Roll Call

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 11:16:37 AM

Friday, April 07, 2006

Ohio Churches Raise Question of IRS Procedure in Audits
A group of churches in Ohio are complaining that the IRS ignored their complaint against two large churches in Ohio they allege are engaging in political activities.

According to the New York Times, the group sent a letter to IRS Commissioner Mark W. Everson, citing reports of political events involving Fairfield Christian Church in Fairfield and World Harvest Church in Columbus. The organizations say that the incidences continued to occur since they made the complaint in January.

Check out the whole article.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 10:54:19 AM

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Breaking News - 527 Legislation Passes in House
H.R. 513 passed by a vote of 218-209. It remains to be seen whether the Senate will take up legislation reining in 527 organizations.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 06:36:06 PM

527 Legislation on the House Floor Today
The House Rules Committee yesterday sent a 527 bill to the floor, under a closed rule, with only one hour of debate. The legislation, sponsored by Reps. Shays and Meehan, was changed to add one provision repealing party spending limits. The provision was taken from legislation sponsored by Rep. Mike Pence.

Even with the change, reformers are supporting the bill. Almost all - if not all - Democrats will oppose the bill, and it seems with the recent letter sent by a number of conservative organizations, some Republicans may defect as well.

The bill is expected to be taken up this morning.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 09:09:47 AM

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

NAACP Challenges IRS Audit By Filing Refund Claim
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) announced March 30 that it is taking steps to challenge the Internal Revenue Service's threat to revoke its tax exempt status because its chairman, Julian Bond, criticized Bush administration policies in a 2004 speech.

The NAACP has now filed a claim with IRS for a refund of $17.65, which it hopes will force the agency's hand in disclosing the status of an IRS the audit.

If the IRS fails to issue the refund or otherwise respond to the NAACP's request for a refund within six month, the NAACP said it will seek review of the refund claim in federal court.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 01:32:14 PM

House to Take Up 527 Legislation This Week
The House is scheduled to take up 527 legislation (H.R. 513) this week to reform organizations created under section 527 of the tax code.

The legislation, sponsored by Reps. Christopher Shays and Marty Meehan would place contribution limits on groups that took in millions of dollars in unlimited contributions in the 2004 campaign. There are questions about the terms of the House debate. Rep. Mike Pence has said he wants to offer an amendment that would repeal the aggregate limit on "hard money" contributions to federal candidates and national political parties. Pence is opposed to further limits on campaign funding. He has stated in press releases that he believes any problems caused by non-party groups can be solved by providing more fund-raising freedom for the parties and candidates.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 11:31:20 AM

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