On April 2, 2003, the House Subcommittee on Education Reform adopted a substitute for H.R. 1350, the Improving Education Results for Children with Disabilities Act of 2003. Chairman Michael Castle (R-DE), the bill's sponsor, dropped provisions that would have severely limited the ability of nonprofit parent centers that receive grants under the bill to communicate with the federal government. The action follows a quick and strongly negative reaction from the nonprofit sector, led by a coalition of nonprofit groups, including the Alliance for Justice, Charity Lobbying in the Public Interest, the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE), OMB Watch and others. In roughly a 48-hour period, over 3,400 messages alone were sent to Committee members through the OMB Watch online alert system. A letter sponsored by NASDSE, bearing the signatures of 83 nonprofit leaders from around the country, was sent to the Subcommittee on March 31, 2003. We remain uncertain as to the original author of the provision, and remain concerned that similar proposals may pop up again in future bills. Please alert us if you see or hear of anything similar by sending a message to OMB Watch's Kay Guinane at kguinane@ombwatch.org. Thanks to all who helped get these provisions dropped! For background see the special section of our website on Nonprofit Advocacy Restrictions.