[EL] Becerra to target charities?

[Sean Parnell]

>From the AP<https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/california/articles/2017-05-03/california-attorney-general-targets-political-nonprofits?elqTrackId=a464f1b23b894fdd8646bee66af5e643&elq=a3f89b2619b3499fad9a77e2819d0ced&elqaid=13786&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=5742>:

California's new attorney general said Wednesday that he plans to target political nonprofit organizations that he said mislead donors and influence campaigns...

"The last thing I think most people want to find out is that all these groups that are getting tax breaks because they are not-for-profit are actually going out there and influencing our political system," he said.

That benefits donors, who can write off their contributions as charitable tax deductions, and the beneficiaries, who enjoy different tax treatment on their property and income, he said. It harms other taxpayers, who must make up the difference in funding government services, he said. It can also skew elections, Becerra said, because voters can't discern the origin of much of the money that is now being spent on campaigns.

Assuming the reporter accurately summarized Becerra's statements regarding tax deductions, he must be talking about c3 charities. Bob Stern, formerly with the California election commission, offers comments in the article that also seem clearly directed at c3 charities, while Ann Ravel's are a little more ambiguous and could be aimed at c4 groups.

I'm curious - are there examples of 501(c)3 entities in California engaging in campaign intervention, at least on a sufficient scale to rise to the attention of the state AG?

Sean Parnell
Vice President for Public Policy, The Philanthropy Roundtable
1120 20th Street NW, Suite 550 South
Washington, DC  20036
(202) 600-7883 (direct)
(571) 289-1374 (mobile)
sparnell at philanthropyroundtable.org

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://webshare.law.ucla.edu/Listservs/law-election/attachments/20170504/2c653859/attachment.html>