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Sunday, December 18, 2005

What Kind of Impact Will the New McCain Lobbying Bill Have on Charities?
We had heard that Sens. McCain and Feingold, with Reps. Meehan and Shays, intended to introduce new legislation to increase regulations on lobbying.

On Friday, McCain and Shays, sans Meehan and Feingold, announced thier intention to introduce lobbying reform legislation, the Lobbying Transparency and Accountability Act of 2005. Reportedly, Meehan and Feingold were not present because they don't think the GOP bill goes far enough to regulate lawmakers.

However, Roll Call is reporting that McCain's bill (which has not been introduced yet) expands the definition of lobbyist to include public relations professionals and grass-roots activists and submit them all to a raft of new disclosure requirements.

What this exactly means for nonprofits no one is quite sure yet - but we will keep you posted!

Read the article.(subscription required)

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 09:20:05 PM

Thursday, December 15, 2005

Links to Articles About Defense Dept. Spying on Organizations
Washington Post's Early Warning Blog

See the video at MSNBV

Palm Beach Post article

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 04:44:43 PM

Friday, December 09, 2005

LSC Restrictions In The New York Times
The pages of The New York Times reflected growing concern about the harms caused by LSC’s physical separation requirement twice this week, once in an editorial (“Separate and Inequitable”) and again in a letter to the editor (“Hobbling Nonprofits”). On December 5, 2005, the editorial page wrote, "The fact that Washington provides money for legal representation does not give it unlimited authority to control what lawyers say or do, or to restrict the use of private money so severely." In a letter to the editor in response to the editorial, Rev. Dr. Eileen Lindner, Deputy General Secretary of Research and Planning for the National Council of Churches, wrote, “It's time for Congress to stand up for those who, without a helping hand from legal services organizations and the shared blessings of others, have no place else to turn for legal help." Editorial, Separate and Inequitable, N.Y. Times, Dec. 6, 2005; Letter to the Editor, Hobbling Nonprofits, N.Y. Times, Dec. 7, 2005

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 05:58:22 PM

Saturday, December 03, 2005

Faith Based Groups Join Campaign To End LSC's Private Money Restriction
Recently, 31 leading faith-based groups joined the campaign to end the Legal Services Corporation's private money restriction, a federal rule that each year deprives thousands of low-income individuals and families of legal help in critical civil cases. In a letter to Congressmen Wolf and Mollohan, the religious groups wrote, “We are deeply concerned that this [provision] hurts the families we serve, imposes unnecessary costs, and sets a dangerous precedent for public-private partnerships. The law closes the doors of justice for many low-income individuals and families who simply cannot afford to hire a private lawyer to help them in civil matters.”

Signatories to the letter include the National Council of Churches, Evangelicals for Social Action, the National Baptist Convention, the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy, Pax Christi USA, and 26 other local, regional, and national groups of various denominations. These groups represent well over 55 million Americans of faith.

This new alliance is an important step in the effort to help the most vulnerable people in America access desperately needed legal assistance. To view the press release or the letter, please visit www.ncccusa.org or www.brennancenter.org.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 10:52:58 AM

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