================================================================= ALAWON Volume 7, Number 30 ISSN 1069-7799 March 24, 1998 American Library Association Washington Office Newsline In this issue: (107 lines) ALA JOINS OPPOSITION TO NONPROFIT ANTI-ADVOCACY LANGUAGE IN CAMPAIGN FINANCE BILL _________________________________________________________________ ALA JOINS OPPOSITION TO NONPROFIT ANTI-ADVOCACY LANGUAGE IN CAMPAIGN FINANCE BILL ALA joined more than 300 organizations signing a letter opposing the nonprofit anti-advocacy provision that is part of the campaign finance reform bill, H.R. 3485. The letter, being distributed today to every Member of the House, was developed by the Let America Speak coalition organized two years ago to fight efforts by some members of Congress to legislate restrictions on the advocacy activities of nonprofit organizations. Leaders of the coalition are Alliance for Justice, Independent Sector, and OMB Watch, and are thanked for the analysis of H.R. 3485 that follows. ACTION NEEDED: H.R. 3485 is expected to be on the House floor on Thursday, March 26 or Friday, March 27. by telephone, fax, or e-mail, please urge your Representative to oppose the nonprofit anti-advocacy provision in the bill. BACKGROUND: Representative Bill Thomas (R-CA) is the sponsor of H.R. 3485, the Campaign Reform and Election Integrity Act. Title I of the bill would significantly restrict the ability of nonprofits to engage in public policy matters, such as commenting on federal regulations or educating the public about federal laws and regulations. Nonprofit organizations would be required to annually seek consent from their members before they can use their funds for "political activity." "Political activity" would not only include activities to influence elections, but also activities to influence federal legislation, federal regulations, or educating individuals about candidates for federal office or about federal legislation, laws, or regulations. The bill's anti-advocacy provision raises significant concerns for nonprofit organizations: * Nonprofits would be required to send an annual notice to their members indicating how much they expect to spend on political activities in the forthcoming year. Members would then "vote" whether they want their dues or contributions to be used for such activities. The amount of dues money represented (on a pro rata share) by those voting in the negative would be deducted from the overall amount designated by the nonprofit organization for political activities. It would be illegal -- and enforceable by the Federal Election Commission -- to exceed the amount permitted for political activities. Tax law already prohibits America's charities from electioneering. Furthermore, nonprofits are already regulated regarding the amount of lobbying that they can do under the tax code. Most are required to report to the Internal Revenue Service annually about lobbying expenditures -- and these reports are available to the public. * The bill would create an unfair administrative burden on nonprofits. The definition of "political activity" in the Thomas bill is different than the IRS definition of "lobbying." This means that charities will need to keep two sets of records, one for the IRS and one for the FEC, and report to two agencies. It also means that both the IRS and the FEC would now be involved in overseeing nonprofit public policy activities. In addition, it forces nonprofits to divert resources from providing direct services to communities. * The bill would Significantly broaden the type of "political activities" that are now regulated by the federal government. All nonprofits organized under 501 of the tax code are covered by this provision. Although 501(c)(3) organizations are currently prohibited from electioneering, this provision goes beyond this restriction to cover positions taken on federal laws and regulations and education about such matters. _________________________________________________________________ ALAWON is a free, irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office. To subscribe, send the message: subscribe ala-wo [your_firstname] [your_lastname] to listproc @ala.org. To unsubscribe, send the message: unsubscribe ala-wo to listproc@ala.org. ALAWON archives at http://www.ala.org/ washoff/alawon. Visit our Web site at http://www.alawash.org. ALA Washington Office 202.628.8410 (V) 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, #403 202.628.8419 (F) Washington, DC 20004-1701 800.941.8478 (V) Lynne E. Bradley, Editor Deirdre Herman, Managing Editor Contributors: Anne A. Heanue All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. =================================================================