****Begin File*************Begin File**************Begin File**** ***************************************************************** ISSN 1069-7799 ALAWON ALA Washington Office Newsline An electronic publication of the American Library Association Washington Office Volume 4, Number 96 November 15, 1995 In this issue: (159 lines) RESTRICTIONS ON NONPROFIT POLITICAL ADVOCACY IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED: ASK YOUR SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVE TO VOTE AGAINST ISTOOK AMENDMENT ***************************************************************** RESTRICTIONS ON NONPROFIT POLITICAL ADVOCACY The controversial legislative proposal to restrict the advocacy voice of nonprofit organizations is expected to be offered tomorrow, November 16, to H.R. 2564, a lobbying disclosure reform bill, by its principal sponsors, Representatives Ernest Istook (R-OK) and David McIntosh (R-IN). The Istook amendment, in all of its mutations, is opposed by the American Library Association because ALA is particularly sensitive to proposals that would impede the free flow of information, a vital element in a democratic society. ALA believes the effects of the Istook proposal would be extensive and adverse not only on nonprofit organizations, but the entire nation, for the following reasons: - Congress and other law and policy makers would be shut off from information nonprofit organizations provide them to help craft good public policy. - The burden of compliance and enforcement with the requirements of the Istook proposal would be onerous. Compliance could mean that nonprofit organization would be restricted from spending their own funds to protect the interests of their constituents whenever the government was involved. - Realistically, there is no need for the proposed amendment. Using federal funds to lobby is prohibited under current law; penalties for violations are severe. ALA belongs to the Let America Speak Coalition led by Independent Sector, OMB Watch and the Alliance for Justice. OMB Watch has prepared the following analysis of the version of the latest Istook amendment: Rep. Ernest Istook (R-OK) proposes to add to the lobby reform bill an amendment that is in many respects similar to the original Istook amendment, except that it uses the framework of the Simpson/Craig amendment passed by the Senate last week. Once again, there is no evidence of the need for the Istook amendment. The Inspectors General of several key federal agencies and the OMB have indicated that there is no pattern of nonprofit grantees using federal funds to lobby. Key elements of the amendment include: 1. All grantees will be required to submit a new annual report no later than Dec. 31 of each year that provides information about the grant. For those grantees spending $25,000 or more per year on lobbying, they must also include a "good faith estimate" of how much was spent on lobbying. This information will be posted on the Internet and will be available through a free, expedited Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process. This means that all grantees will be required to keep an extra set of books based on the definition of "lobbying" that follows. 2. Lobbying is defined very broadly. It includes all communications with legislative or executive branch employees at the local, state, or federal level that deal with attempts to influence legislation or any "program, policy, or position" of the government agency, including nominations or confirmations of individuals. There are specific exemptions, such as testimony or responding to notices in the Federal Register. The traditional exemption for nonpartisan analysis is not included as an exemption. This definition is considerably broader than the IRS definition of lobbying that applies to charities, especially with its inclusion of communications with the executive branch. It is way broader than the Simpson/Craig amendment which did not apply to communications directed to local or state governments, and limited which federal employees are considered covered when communicating with the executive branch. In some respects it is even broader than the original Istook amendment in that the scope of what is included is broader (e.g., influencing the policy of the government) with one key exception: the original Istook amendment included litigation involving the government, this one does not. 3. For grantees receiving more than $125,000 in grants, they will be prohibited from receiving federal grants if they lobby above a specified threshold. The threshold is based on the 501(h) rules from the tax code with one exception. There would be no cap: if "exempt purpose expenditures" exceed $17 million, then the entity's threshold is $1 million plus 1% of the excess. "Exempt purpose expenditures" means the total expenditures minus the amount of federal grants. In a bit of confusing draftsmanship, the amendment states that the limitation on lobbying and the prohibition on federal grants does not apply to those who have elected 501(h) and lived under those rules for the full previous federal fiscal year. Does that mean that you need not comply with the Istook amendment definition of lobbying? If so, this could be a major breakthrough. (Our assumption is that this is poor drafting and that the intent was to insure that charities have the $1 million cap on lobbying, while other entities, such as businesses, do not. The Istook office was not available to answer our question on this point.) 4. 501(c)(4) social welfare organizations with revenues of $3 million or more that lobby will be prohibited from receiving federal grants. Gary Bass OMB Watch (202) 234-8494 bass@tknet.org ACTION NEEDED: Please call, fax or e-mail your Representative immediately to ask him or her to vote against the Istook amendment, or any similar legislative language from Representative McInstosh, when it is proposed as an amendment to H.R. 2564, the lobby disclosure reform bill. ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** ALAWON (ISSN 1069-7799) is an irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office, 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20004. Internet: alawash@alawash.org; Phone: 202-628-8410; Fax: 202-628-8419. Contributing to this issue:Anne A. Heanue and Claudette W. Tennant; Editor: Lynne E. Bradley (leb@alawash.org). ALAWON is available free of charge and is available only in electronic form. To subscribe, send the message "subscribe ala-wo [your name]" to listserv@uicvm (Bitnet) or listserv@uicvm.uic.edu (Internet). Back issues and other documents are available from the listserv the list server. To find out what's available, send the message "send ala-wo filelist" to the listserv. The ALA-WO filelist contains the list of files with the exact filename and filetype. To get a particular file, issue the command "send filename filetype" to the listserv. Do not include the quotes in your commands. All materials in the newsletter subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. For other reprinting or redistribution, address requests to the ALA Washington Office (alawash@alawash.org). ****End File****************End File****************End File**** *****************************************************************