Opinion: IRS the Wrong Place to Police Nonprofit Politicking
The government should leave the Internal Revenue Service to its job of collecting taxes and get the agency out of the business of monitoring nonprofit groups’ election activity, a fellow with a group that promotes free political speech writes in a Wall Street Journal column.
Kremlin Declares Mogul’s Science Charity a ‘Foreign Agent’
A Russian law ostensibly intended to prevent foreign interests from meddling in the country’s internal affairs has ensnared a charity founded by a wealthy businessman to promote science education, Reuters writes.
$187-Million Fraud Case Should Send a Message About Charity Integrity
Regulators, nonprofit leaders, and the public all need to step up their work to get rid of scoundrels.
By PABLO EISENBERG
Contributor
State Dept. Cleared Arms Sales to Clinton Foundation Donors
The State Department under Hillary Clinton’s leadership approved $165 million in U.S. weapons sales to 20 foreign governments that have donated to the Clinton Foundation, considerably more than those countries received prior to her tenure, according to an International Business Times investigation.
City Hall Budget Fight Hampers Funding for NYC Charities
Catholic Charities and other New York City social-service agencies are losing tens of thousands of dollars in city funds this summer due to a procurement dispute between Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration and the City Council, writes the New York Daily News.
Audit Finds La. Charity Spent Grant Funds on Cruises and Games
A Louisiana legislative audit found that a largely government-funded New Orleans nonprofit that provided housing for people with disabilities and medical issues spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on travel, entertainment, and other inappropriate or inadequately documented expenses, The Times-Picayune reports.
New IRS Rules for Political Groups Could Come Out in June
Renewing a regulatory effort that fizzled out last year amid complaints from across the political spectrum, the Internal Revenue Service issued a notice last week that new draft rules on electioneering by nonprofits could be released as soon as next month, reports The New York Times.
Russia and China Clamp Down on Foreign Nonprofits
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed legislation granting authorities the power to declare foreign-based or foreign-backed nonprofits “undesirable” and shut them down, The Wall Street Journal writes, and Beijing is also mulling new laws to increase control on organizations from abroad, the Journal also reports.
Cancer-Charities Case Shows Patchy Oversight of Nonprofits
A principal behind the four cancer nonprofits in a federal complaint earlier this week for allegedly bilking donors out of $187 million had been on state regulators’ radars for decades, highlighting gaps in oversight of suspect charities, writes The New York Times.
Tampa Charity Sues City Over Panhandling Restrictions
A group serving the homeless in Tampa, Fla., has gone to court to block city laws that limit street solicitations, saying the measures are unconstitutional and could put the charity out of business, the Tampa Bay Times reports.
S.C. City Weighs Business-License Fee for Some Nonprofits
A Columbia, S.C., councilman wants the capital city to levy business-license taxes on nonprofits that compete with similar for-profit firms, Columbia newspaper The State reports.
Court Denies Notre Dame Bid for Contraception Exception
For the second time, the federal Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals denied the university’s request for a temporary exemption from the Affordable Care Act’s birth-control mandate, the Associated Press reports.
GOP Lawmaker Questions Charity Donation in Mortgage Deal
Virginia Rep. Bob Goodlatte raised objections to a provision of a $50 million settlement for bankrupt homeowners that directs $7.5 million of the fund to a charity run by the American Bankruptcy Institute, reports The Wall Street Journal.
L.A. Adopts $15 Minimum Wage but OKs Delay for Some Nonprofits
The City Council approved a plan Tuesday to raise Los Angeles’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2020, giving labor activists their biggest victory to date in a nationwide campaign to boost stagnating pay at the lower rungs of the economic ladder, the Los Angeles Times writes.
GOP Call Grows for IRS Investigation of Clinton Foundation
Fifty-two House Republicans signed a letter asking the Internal Revenue Service to initiate a review of the Clinton Foundation’s tax-exempt status, Reuters reports.
N.J. Man Jailed for Running Illicit Bank Disguised as Charity
Moshe “David” Schwartz, who was ensnared in a massive 2009 corruption sting for operating a bogus nonprofit as an unchartered bank used by clients to hide assets from authorities, was sentenced Tuesday to 27 months in prison, NJ Advance Media reports.