[EL] Supposed broadcast in churches of VP Harris's endorsement of Gov. McAuliffe

[Aprill, Ellen]

Hmm, not sure how much Eugene and others on the list want on this issue.

Churches showing just this video would violate the sec. 501(c)(3) campaign intervention prohibition.

BUT churches could "kosher" doing so but showing a similar video for the Republican candidate. (Not likely I know).

The IRS publication for churches has a good discussion of the applicable rules:
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p1828.pdf

And, the only church we know of that lost its exemption for campaign intervention took out ads in USA Today and the Washington Times 4 days before the election in 1992 entitled "Christians Beware." It stated that Bill Clinton's position on abortion and homosexuality violated Biblical precepts and solicited tax-deductible contributions.

Churches do not have to apply for exemption - so a church that lost its exemption could easily re-organize with a technically new entity and be exempt.


The IRS did have a Political Activity Campaign Initiative (PACI) for the election cycles from 2004-2008.  It found violations by many 501(c)(3)s, including churches, but did not revoke exemptions for any of the violations. (I have heard IRS representative say at various meetings that the IRS has some churches currently under examination for violating this prohibition, but no public details are available.)

I discuss all of this in a piece I did for the Central Conference of American Rabbis (the organization for Reform rabbis) back in 2009:
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1520753

The rules have not changed since 2009.  In this piece (which depends heavily on work by both Rick and Eugene), I explain why Trump erred in saying that his Executive Order changed the law regarding campaign intervention prohibition.
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3077348

Lloyd Mayer - whom I think subscribes to this - has a number of fine pieces on this issue.  Here is link to one of them:
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=991129

I would have thought that VP Harris's office would have checked with people knowledgeable about these rules before releasing the video.

Ellen


----

Ellen P Aprill​  (she/her/hers)
John E Anderson Professor in Tax Law ​
Professor of Law
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________________________________
From: Law-election <law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu> on behalf of Volokh, Eugene <VOLOKH at law.ucla.edu>
Sent: Sunday, October 17, 2021 4:42 PM
To: law-election at uci.edu <law-election at uci.edu>
Subject: [EL] Supposed broadcast in churches of VP Harris's endorsement of Gov. McAuliffe


So reports Eva McKend of CNN; any thoughts on whether this is consistent with IRS guidelines, and whether the report is factually accurate?  Naturally, religious appeals to religious communities are themselves entirely protected by the First Amendment – but as I understand it, playing them in church would be inconsistent with the churches’ 501(c)(3) status.  (Some religious rights groups, especially conservative ones, have been advocating for changing those rules<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnson_Amendment>, but my understanding is that they haven’t yet succeeded.)



Eugene



https://twitter.com/evamckend/status/1449510191079301122



EW -- More than 300 Black churches across VA will hear from @KamalaHarris<https://twitter.com/KamalaHarris>

btwn Sun. and November 2 in video message that will air during morning services as part of outreach effort aimed to boost @TerryMcAuliffe<https://twitter.com/TerryMcAuliffe>. #VAGOV<https://twitter.com/hashtag/VAGOV?src=hashtag_click> Video first obtained by CNN https://cnn.com/2021/10/16/politics/democrats-virginia-mcauliffe-governor/index.html…<https://t.co/vaefXtWqUe?amp=1>



Eva McKend<https://twitter.com/evamckend>

@evamckend<https://twitter.com/evamckend>



·

Oct 16<https://twitter.com/evamckend/status/1449511271062196224>

Replying to

@evamckend<https://twitter.com/evamckend>

MORE: VP Harris implores congregants to vote following church service. The McAuliffe campaign has embraced "Souls to the Polls," block-party style events featuring top campaign surrogates after church near polling locations, to drive turnout. #VAGOV<https://twitter.com/hashtag/VAGOV?src=hashtag_click>


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