Report Criticizes Environmental Protection Agency Grants to Non-Profit Organizations

Citizens Against Government Waste, a watchdog group based in Washington, has fired its latest salvo at government spending: a report on Environmental Protection Agency grants to non-profit groups.

The report, called “Phony Philanthropy: How Government Grants are Subverting the Missions of Nonprofit Organizations,” examines the $263-million that the agency awarded to non-profit groups in 1995 and 1996.

According to the report, the grants went to 105 organizations. While the report acknowledges that not all of the organizations are using federal dollars “in nefarious ways,” it says that recipient organizations “certainly deserve greater scrutiny by Congress and federal agency investigators.”

The report separates the grants into a handful of categories. If, for example, the organization that received the money engaged in any form of lobbying or advocacy activities — regardless of where the money for that work came from — the grants are labeled “taxpayer funded advocacy.”

If the grants went to organizations that the report says represent “a certain segment of business interests and the government funds benefited that industry sector,” they are pegged as “corporate welfare.”

Other non-profit groups are branded in the report as “government codependents” because they receive at least 50 per cent of their annual income from government sources.

“People will be shocked about the amount of money these non-profits get from the federal government,” says David E. Williams, research director at the watchdog group, which lists its toll-free telephone number as 1-800-BE-ANGRY. “What people don’t realize is that when they pay their federal taxes, these organizations — whether liberal or conservative — are using their money to advance their causes.”

Officials at the Environmental Protection Agency declined to respond directly to the report. Instead, the agency released a statement saying that the organization takes very seriously “its responsibility for effectively managing the taxpayers’ money.” The statement also says that the agency “pursues any problems or program issues identified until they are resolved.”

Gary Bass, executive director of OMB Watch, another group that monitors government spending, called the Citizens Against Government Waste report “misleading and potentially dangerous.” The report’s contentions, especially that government money is being used for lobbying, “have been repeatedly tested and proven wrong,” says Mr. Bass, noting that Congress has rejected several attempts to tighten rules that limit lobbying among non-profit groups that receive federal funds.

A copy of the report is available free from Citizens Against Government Waste, 1301 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Washington 20036; (202) 467-5300.