[EL] ALEC Tax Status (NCSL Foundation role)

Tue Apr 17 06:38:11 PDT 2012

Just a clarification on NCSL's foundation.

NCSL is an "instrumentality of the several states" not a 501
organization. Other instrumentalities are NGA and the Attorneys General,
along with many interstate compact organizations.

The Foundation for State Legislatures is a 501-C-3. NCSL almost never does
model legislation or tells
the states what to do. Exceptions would include the work on streamlined
sales tax
and , years ago, work on model ethics, disclosure and open records
proposals. Any public policy positions are on the federal-state relationship
and decision making on such policies is only by elected state legislators.
FSL members may participate in partnerships which involve legislators ( we
do 2 or 3 a year) which try to create greater understanding of a policy
issue, but do not recommend specific or model legislation.

Jeff Wice

On Sat, Apr 14, 2012 at 10:08 AM, David Mason <dmason12 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Again, my purpose is not to criticize the NCSL, but to make the point that
> people who are attacking ALEC because it is corporate funded and attacking
> ALEC's tax status because its activities involve legislation (not lobbying)
> are being inconsistent.  I use NCSL resources professionally and appreciate
> them.  Like NCSL, ALEC plainly posts its purposes
> http://www.alec.org/about-alec/
>
> But it does appear that the NCSL foundation 1) is substantially funded by
> corporations and 2) advertises special access to legislators for those
> donors.  The latter point is evidenced by the invitation (below) for donors
> to post (secret) position papers on the NCSL web site and by this statement
> on the Women's legislative network site
> http://www.ncsl.org/legislatures-elections.aspx?tabs=1116,83,200:
>
> "The Women's Legislative Network Alliance is a partnership program of the
> Women's Legislative Network of NCSL. The Network Alliance includes
> individuals from associations, foundations, and corporations who assist the
> Network by providing consultation and financial support. Numerous
> opportunities exist to work with women legislators and to contribute to the
> Network by becoming an Alliance member or sponsoring an event or program.
> Alliance members are invited to all Network events."
>
> Among the current Women's Network alliance members listed are Coca Cola
> (formerly an ALEC supporter) and other large corporations.
>
> The sponsor list for the NCSL Foundation is here:
> http://www.ncsl.org/about-us.aspx?tabs=1027,82,573, so it is disclosed.
> It is also lengthy.
>
> If people are genuinely concerned about disproportionate corporate
> influence in public policy, they might look at the NCSL foundation's
> sponsor list.
>
> If people are genuinely concerned about tax-advantaged opportunities for
> corporate influence, they might criticize this.
>
> So, my point is that the attacks on ALEC for corporate involvement and tax
> status appear selective and ideologically motivated.
>
> Dave Mason
>
>
> On Fri, Apr 13, 2012 at 11:17 PM, Douglas Johnson <
> djohnson at ndcresearch.com> wrote:
>
>> The work, tax status and funding methods for NCSL's foundation is right
>> there on the website: ****
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> http://www.ncsl.org/about-us.aspx?tabs=1027,82,570****
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> The Foundation is dedicated to building public trust and confidence in
>> representative democracy through public outreach and education, ethics in
>> government and strengthening state legislatures. The Foundation supports the
>>  *Trust for Representative Democracy*<http://www.ncsl.org/Default.aspx?TabID=746&tabs=1116,87,245#1116>,
>> the *Center for Ethics in Government* <http://www.ncsl.org/legislatureselections/tabid/746/default.aspx?tabs=1116,87,245>and
>> the *Women's Legislative Network*.<http://www.ncsl.org/legislatureselections/tabid/746/default.aspx?tabs=1116,83,197>
>> ****
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> (Each of the colored phrases is a link to the mentioned organization.)***
>> *
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> - Doug****
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> Douglas Johnson****
>>
>> Fellow****
>>
>> Rose Institute of State and Local Government****
>>
>> m 310-200-2058****
>>
>> o 909-621-8159****
>>
>> douglas.johnson at cmc.edu****
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> *From:* law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu [mailto:
>> law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] *On Behalf Of *Ellen
>> Aprill
>> *Sent:* Friday, April 13, 2012 5:27 PM
>> *To:* Rick Hasen
>> *Cc:* law-election at uci.edu
>> *Subject:* Re: [EL] ALEC Tax Status****
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> I have spent some time on the NCSL and Uniform Law Commission websites as
>> well as searching for them on Guidestar.  Neither appears to be a c-3 ---
>> my guess is that they are each a government consortium under section 115 of
>> the Code.  (I have written two too long and detailed articles on section
>> 115). These governmental organizations are not subject to the strictures of
>> c-3. ****
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> Both do have foundations, which are registered as c-3's.  It is a bit
>> difficult for me to tell, whether from the websites or the Forms 990, just
>> what the foundations do.   The limited access to the NCSL foundation does
>> trouble me. ****
>>
>> ** **
>>
>>   Ellen****
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> On Fri, Apr 13, 2012 at 4:18 PM, Rick Hasen <rhasen at law.uci.edu> wrote:**
>> **
>>
>> This is very helpful and useful.  Does NCSL have "members" who are
>> legislators the way ALEC does?  Is it permissible for a c3 to have
>> legislator members who help further the c3's goals?
>>
>> On 4/13/12 3:54 PM, David Mason wrote: ****
>>
>> Drafting model legislation, which is count #1 in the linked post, is a
>> permissible tax exempt activity.  Drafting is not lobbying.  The post also
>> claims ALEC "are lobbying in state capitals across the country," whiich
>> likely confuses ALEC (which does not have staff in most (if any) state
>> capitols) with ALEC Members who are themselves legislators.****
>>
>>  ****
>>
>> As far as corporations buying access, consider this statement from the
>> NCSL web site (
>> http://www.ncsl.org/about-us/ncslservice/ncsl-foundation-sponsor-documents.aspx
>> ):****
>>
>>  ****
>> *NCSL Foundation for State Legislatures: Sponsors' Documents*
>>
>> One of the benefits to sponsoring the NCSL Foundation for State
>> Legislatures is the ability to post position papers on the NCSL website.
>> These papers are restricted and searchable to all members that have a user
>> name and password. We encourage all of our sponsors to take advantage of
>> the ability to make your organization's views known to our constituents.*
>> ***
>>
>> Let me be clear, I have no beef with NCSL or the NCSL Foundation, but
>> when ALEC is attacked for issuing model legislation (which NCSL also does),
>> or for providing favored access for corporate funders (See immediately
>> above), but the same folks are not in a lather to "expose" NCSL, you can
>> see why the attacks on ALEC appear simply ideological, rather than
>> motivated by a genuine concern about tax policy.****
>>
>>  ****
>>
>> Dave Mason****
>>
>>  ****
>>
>>  ****
>>
>> *Common Cause Says ALEC is Violating Its 501c3 Status<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=32948>
>> *
>>
>> Posted on April 13, 2012 8:41 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=32948>by Rick
>> Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3> ****
>>
>> I’m no tax lawyer, but on its face this looks like
>> <http://www.commoncause.org/siteapps/advocacy/ActionItem.aspx?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=7550265>a
>> reasonable point. A c3 cannot engage in substantial lobbying and
>> legislation is necessary to achieve its ends.****
>>
>> What am I missing?  (And I concede I may be missing something—I’m way
>> outside my comfort zone here.)****
>>
>>  ****
>>
>> [image: Share]<http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D32948&title=Common%20Cause%20Says%20ALEC%20is%20Violating%20Its%20501c3%20Status&description=>
>> ****
>>
>> Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, tax law
>> and election law <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=22> | Comments Off ****
>> * *
>>
>>  ****
>>
>>
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>> ** **
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> --
>> Rick Hasen
>> Chancellor's Professor of Law and Political Science
>> UC Irvine School of Law
>> 401 E. Peltason Dr., Suite 1000
>> Irvine, CA 92697-8000
>> 949.824.3072 - office
>> 949.824.0495 - fax
>> rhasen at law.uci.edu
>> http://law.uci.edu/faculty/page1_r_hasen.html
>> http://electionlawblog.org****
>>
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>>
>>
>> ****
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> -- ****
>>
>> Ellen P. Aprill****
>>
>> John E. Anderson Professor of Tax Law****
>>
>> Loyola Law School****
>>
>> 919 Albany Street****
>>
>> Los Angeles, CA 90015****
>>
>> 213-736-1157****
>>
>> ** **
>>
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