Independent Groups
Washington Post: Conservative groups targeted by IRS testify that agency demanded they curtail activities
By Juliet EilperinSusan Martinek, president of the Coalition for Life of Iowa, testified that an IRS agent told her in June 2009 that she needed to send a letter with her entire board’s signatures “stating under penalty of perjury we would not picket, protest or organize groups to picket, protest outside of Planned Parenthood.”While the group eventually won IRS approval, Martinek said, she did not understand why the agency would make such a demand: “As Christians we knew we needed to pray for a better solution to unplanned pregnancy than abortion. Why not at the source?”
Fox: In IRS mess, how we can believe anything Team Obama is telling us?
By Karl RoveContrary to the impression fostered by Team Obama and Ms. Lerner, the combined total for tax-exempt applications closed by the IRS for both (c)(4) and (c)(3) groups peaked at 87,638 in FY 2007 and had declined 38% by FY 2012, when the IRS closed 54,522 tax-exempt applications of which 2,774 were for 501(c)(4) status and 51,748 for 501(c)(3) status.The number of 501(c)(4) applications closed did hit 2,774 in FY 2012, up from FY 2011 and FY 2010. But in FY 2010 when the IRS started targeting Tea Party and conservative groups, the number of application closures had fallen 9% to 1,741 from the previous fiscal year’s total of 1,922.
Disclosure
CRP: Dark Money Data Added to OpenSecrets.org
By Robert MaguireThis section provides a unique comparison of the FEC data and the spending the groups report to the IRS. For more than a year now, CRP has been manually inputting thousands of records from tax documents. Though the data itself comes primarily from annual 990 reports filed by all nonprofits, we collect both 990 annual reports and 1024 requests to the IRS for exempt status, both of which have been used in our Shadow Money Trail reporting. Each 1024 also contains the date an organization applied for exempt status, how long the process took, and the group’s description of its intended activities.
Tax Financing
Washington Times: House panel advances measures to ax public campaign financing
By Sean LengellA House committee Tuesday approved measures to end public financing of presidential campaigns and national party conventions, as backers say the programs have lost support among voters and candidates and are a waste of taxpayer money.
Candidates, Politicians and Parties
Bloomberg: Almost Half of Americans Say Obama Untruthful About IRS
By Mike DoringMore than half of political independents — 53 percent — say Obama’s explanation that he learned it from media reports is untrue, while 34 percent say they believe him.“How could he not know?” said poll respondent June Wilshusen, 50, of Yuma, Colorado, a political independent and a stay-at-home wife married to a machinist. “I think any president has to know what’s going on with our government. I think they’re very aware of the IRS.”
State and Local
California –– KPBS: San Diego Council Approves Cap On Campaign Contributions
The City Council today gave initial approval to caps on the amount of money political parties can give to candidates and causes in San Diego city elections, but left a loophole open for the election cycle that just started.The lid for citywide campaigns, such as for mayor or city attorney, would be $20,000 if adopted June 18 on second reading and subsequently signed into law by Mayor Bob Filner. For district races, like for City Council, the cap limit would be $10,000.
New York –– Attorney General: A.G. Schneiderman Adopts New Disclosure Requirements For Nonprofits That Engage In Electioneering
NEW YORK – As part of a groundbreaking effort to bring transparency to the political process and protect donors to nonprofits, Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced that he has adopted new regulations that will require nonprofit groups, including 501(c)(4) “social welfare” organizations, to make more robust disclosures of their political campaign activities. Effective today, nonprofits that are registered with the state will now be required to report the percentage of their expenditures that go to federal, state and local electioneering. Groups that spend at least $10,000 to influence state and local elections in New York will be required to file itemized schedules of expenses and contributions. Those disclosures will be available to the public on the Attorney General’s NY Open Government website.
Ohio –– Columbus Dispatch: Ohio Senate eases campaign giving in budget-bill changes
By Jim SiegelUnder current campaign-finance law, only state parties are allowed to accept direct corporate or union money to pay for office expenses that are “not used solely for the purpose of directly influencing the election of any individual candidate.”The bill expands that language to include legislative campaigns, and it loosens how that money can be used by adding “operating costs” of an office, which is explicitly barred under current law.
