Government Matters Articles

Reg Round-Up

How to stay on top of appointments news and rumors • Learn about the mad cow scare — and the unaddressed weaknesses in safeguards against mad cow disease • EPA rollback killing children • And more news briefs and alerts! Do the Cabinet Shuffle: Who will be running the agencies in the next term of the Bush administration? Stay on top of the latest news and rumors in REG•WATCH, our regulatory policy weblog.

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Graham Defiant in Hearing, Dems Probe Mercury Rule

The last regulatory policy hearing of a House Government Reform subcommittee was split into two disconnected halves, as committee Republicans considered the White House's policy of inviting industry to suggest rollbacks of regulatory protections while Democrats assailed the Environmental Protection Agency's pending rulemaking for mercury pollution.

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NAS Biases Panel With Industry Interests

The National Academies biased a panel to study the risks from disposing coal wastes in abandoned mines by appointing six members with ties to the mining, coal, and electric utility industries, of whom two have subsequently stepped down after criticism from public interest groups.

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Activists Assess Needs, Trends for 'Progressive Politics and Technology'

Collaboration, innovation and integration -- those were the keys to advancement for progressive advocacy groups during the recent electoral season, according to presenters at the November "Roundtable on Progressive Politics and Technology." These will no doubt remain key watchwords for progressives as they strive to keep up with evolving technologies, and use them to make their outreach strategies, programs and messaging more effective in the years ahead.

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Post Election Analysis of 527s, Other Issues Begins

Now that the first election since passage of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA) is over, analysis of its impact on campaigns, parties, donors and independent groups is underway. Overall, there was a huge increase in the number of small donors to both campaigns and independent groups and elimination of soft money donations to parties and federal candidates. While much more needs to be learned before further reform efforts go forward, initial reports provide an indication of long-term trends.

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CFC Issues Terror List Check Guidance

After months of silence the Combined Federal Campaign has issued guidance on how charities participating in this workplace-giving program for federal employees should implement its requirement that they certify they do not knowingly employ persons on various government terrorist watch lists. The CFC Memorandum 2004-12 provides background information and clarification, but does not change the interpretation that led a dozen nonprofits to file suit to block the policy.

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Court Narrows Faith-Based Suit

A law suit claiming sweeping constitutional problems with the Bush administration's faith-based initiative has been largely defanged by a court's decision that the plaintiff does not have standing to file the suit. The dismissal of all but a small portion of a lawsuit means the merits of the case remain undecided in the courts.

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OMB Watch Launches Advocacy Blog

OMB Watch's nonprofit advocacy project is pleased to announce the launch of its new "Advocacy Blog". "Weblog," and "blog," are popular terms to denote a website (or a portion of a website) that contains short, frequent posts and Web links. The entries are usually sorted in reverse chronological order and archived by category and date. OMB Watch's new blog will cover a wide range of nonprofit issues, and will be updated throughout the week by OMB Watch staff. We are confident you will find it a valuable resource.

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IRS Initiates Pay, Reporting Enforcement Effort

As part of a stepped-up enforcement effort, the Internal Revenue Service Exempt Organizations division (EO) is sending letters to approximately 2,000 charities asking them to detail their method of determining executive compensation. EO Director Martha Sullivan estimates 25 percent of organizations receiving the letter will be examined further. In a related issue, the IRS is contacting charities that have not answered question 89B of Tax Form 990. Question 89B deals with excess benefit transactions, and is considering the use of penalties up to $50,000.

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FEC Schedules New Rulemaking in 2005

Beginning in January 2005 the Federal Election Commission (FEC) will begin an intense seven-month series of proceedings to amend rules implementing the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA) rejected by a federal court this fall, and take up new issues generated by this year's election. Among those with greatest impact on nonprofits will be expansion of regulation into Internet communications, reconsideration of the electioneering communications exemption for 501(c)(3) groups and party donations to nonprofits. At its Nov. 18 meeting the FEC approved a

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