[EL] looking for CRS report

Rick Hasen rhasen at law.uci.edu
Thu Sep 12 09:56:24 PDT 2013 

Ask and ye shall receive:


    New CRS Report: "501(c)(3)s and Campaign Activity: Analysis Under
    Tax and Campaign Finance Laws" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=55224>

Posted on September 12, 2013 9:55 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=55224>by Rick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

You can now read this government document here 
<http://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/CRS-Report-on-IRS-Line-Between-Issue-Advocacy-and-Campaign-Activity-2013.pdf> 
(only because someone was nice enough to send it along to me.) Time to 
grant 
<http://www.opensecrets.org/action/issues/access-to-CRS-reports/>full 
public access to these documents!).

Here is the abstract:

    The political activities of Section 501(c)(3) organizations are
    often in the news, with allegations made that some groups engaged in
    impermissible activities. These groups are absolutely prohibited
    from participating in campaign activity under the Internal Revenue
    Code (IRC). On the other hand, they are permitted to engage in
    nonpartisan political activities (e.g., distributing voter guides
    and conducting get-out-the-vote drives) that do not support or
    oppose a candidate.
    Determining whether an activity violates the IRC prohibition depends
    on the facts and circumstances of each case, and the line between
    impermissible and permissible activities can sometimes be difficult
    to discern.
    Due to the IRC prohibition, Section 501(c)(3) organizations
    generally are not permitted to engage in the types of activities
    regulated by the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA). However, the
    activities regulated under the IRC and FECA are not necessarily
    identical. An organization must comply with any applicable FECA
    provisions if engaging in activities regulated by FECA (e.g., making
    an issue advocacy communication under the IRC that constitutes an
    electioneering
    communication under FECA).
    A 2010 Supreme Court case, Citizens United v. FEC, has received
    considerable attention for invalidating several long-standing
    prohibitions in FECA on corporate and labor union campaign treasury
    spending. This case does not appear to significantly impact the
    political activities of Section 501(c)(3) organizations because they
    remain subject to the prohibition on such activity under the IRC.
    This report examines the restrictions imposed on campaign activity
    by Section 501(c)(3) organizations under the tax and campaign
    finance laws. For a discussion limited to the ability of churches
    and other houses of worship to engage in campaign activity, see CRS
    Report RL34447, Churches and Campaign Activity: Analysis Under Tax
    and Campaign Finance Laws, by Erika K. Lunder and L. Paige Whitaker.

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<http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D55224&title=New%20CRS%20Report%3A%20%E2%80%9C501%28c%29%283%29s%20and%20Campaign%20Activity%3A%20Analysis%20Under%20Tax%20and%20Campaign%20Finance%20Laws%E2%80%9D&description=>
Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, tax law 
and election law <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=22>


On 9/12/13 9:35 AM, Rick Hasen wrote:
> Hey congressional staffers on the election law list---I know you are 
> out there---can one of you please send me the report listed below, so 
> I can post it?
> thank you
>
>
>     New CRS Report on IRS Line Between Issue Advocacy and Campaign
>     Activity <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=55190>
>
> Posted on September 11, 2013 8:42 pm 
> <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=55190>by Rick Hasen 
> <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> Bloomberg BNA discusses it, 
> <http://news.bna.com/mpdm/MPDMWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=36405401&vname=mpebulallissues&jd=a0e1q0f3c1&split=0> 
> but does not link to it, and so far I can't find it.  Who has it?
>
> Share 
> <http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D55190&title=New%20CRS%20Report%20on%20IRS%20Line%20Between%20Issue%20Advocacy%20and%20Campaign%20Activity&description=>
> Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, tax 
> law and election law <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=22>
>
>
> -- 
> 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://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/hasen/
> http://electionlawblog.org
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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> Law-election at department-lists.uci.edu
> http://department-lists.uci.edu/mailman/listinfo/law-election

-- 
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://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/hasen/
http://electionlawblog.org

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