On November 26th the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service proposed new rules to curb the political activity of 501(c)(4) non-profits. The goal is to stop dark-money going into political spending.
Dark-Money: Anonymous donors financing political campaigns under the guise of traditional social-welfare charity. In 2013 some $256m was spent on political ads, phone calls and mailings by around 150 501(c)(4) non-profits. Most of this was by conservative groups with only 15% by left and center groups.
The new rules focus on prohibiting certain political activities explicitly supporting a candidate in an election. They also define as political activities what used to be seen as non-political democracy building, such as non-partisan voter registration and get-out-the-vote campaigns.
The proposed new rules would apply only to 501(c)(4) organizations. They could restrict non-partisan organizations like the League of Woman Voters, which provides information on elections to its members.
Because most money going to 501(c)(5) groups is from trade unions, anonymous wealthy donors may be tempted to switch to 501(c)(6) groups, like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Freedom Partners, a group set up by Charles and Mark Koch, two conservative billionaire brothers.
The consultation process is likely to be fierce, but it is still uncertain whether the new rules that emerge will be enforced. Since 2010 only one non-profit has been denied tax-exempt status by the IRS on political ground.
It may be some time before the days of dark money are over.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!
Michael H. Drucker
Technorati Tag in Del.icio.us 
No comments:
Post a Comment