"We ask that you do all you can to support the proposed constitutional amendment by donating your means and time to assure that marriage in California is defined as being between a man and a woman."
I'm all for Political Action Committees, but this is a church, enjoying all of the structural benefits belonging to churches, including tax exempt status. I know that there are grey areas regarding this sort of behavior, but a memo from HQ to be read at every pulpit in a coordinated fashion is something out of the Manchurian Candidate. It's as if this is a church that reserves the right to become a frighteningly efficient fundraising/phone bank electoral machine, in a pinch. How is this even in the grey area?
Posts: 5600 | Registered: Jul 2001
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posted
It's not a gray area. 501c3 tax exempt organizations (including religious organizations) are banned from participating in any political campaigning on behalf of or opposing any candidate for public office. There's nothing that prohibits them from advocating on a political issue, as long as they don't endorse (or oppose) a candidate.
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quote:The Internal Revenue Service today reminded section 501(c)(3) organizations, including charities and churches that federal law prohibits them from becoming directly or indirectly involved in campaigns of political candidates.
The prohibition against political campaign activity has been in effect for more than half a century and bars certain tax-exempt organizations from engaging on behalf of or in opposition to political candidates. However, these organizations can engage in advocating for or against issues and, to a limited extent, ballot initiatives or other legislative activities.
quote:In general, no organization, including a church, may qualify for IRC section 501(c)(3) status if a substantial part of its activities is attempting to influence legislation (commonly known as lobbying). An IRC section 501(c)(3) organization may engage in some lobbying, but too much lobbying activity risks loss of tax-exempt status.
Legislation includes action by Congress, any state legisla- ture, any local council, or similar governing body, with respect to acts, bills, resolutions, or similar items (such as legislative confirmation of appointive offices), or by the public in a referendum, ballot initiative, constitutional amendment, or similar procedure. It does not include actions by executive, judicial, or administrative bodies.
A church or religious organization will be regarded as attempting to influence legislation if it contacts, or urges the public to contact, members or employees of a legisla- tive body for the purpose of proposing, supporting, or opposing legislation, or if the organization advocates the adoption or rejection of legislation.
Churches and religious organizations may, however, involve themselves in issues of public policy without the activity being considered as lobbying. For example, churches may conduct educational meetings, prepare and distribute educational materials, or otherwise consid- er public policy issues in an educational manner without jeopardizing their tax-exempt status.
Measuring Lobbying Activity
Substantial part test. Whether a church’s or religious organization’s attempts to influence legislation constitute a substantial part of its overall activities is determined on the basis of all the pertinent facts and circumstances in each case. The IRS considers a variety of factors, includ- ing the time devoted (by both compensated and volun- teer workers) and the expenditures devoted by the organization to the activity, when determining whether the lobbying activity is substantial. Churches must use the substantial part test since they are not eligible to use the expenditure test described in the next section.
Dagonee, the substantial part test still seems inadequate: time and expenditures seems like an awkward standard. Once the infrastructure is in place, all it takes is a well-placed memo. This required very little time or money, but that's only because the infrastructure was already there.
quote:Once the infrastructure is in place, all it takes is a well-placed memo.
If only. You are clearly overestimating the power of a single memo and definitely underestimating how much work goes into any and all of the activities by the church. It's not a machine and the people are not cogs - it's more like a house that you have to rebuild every day.
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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It's a quite awkward standard. But it's the one our legislature has put in place for lobbying activities. They have chosen to place less stringent limits on this important constitutional right than on the right to support candidates as a condition of tax exemption. It's also an extremely common type of legal standard.
Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003
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quote:You are clearly overestimating the power of a single memo and definitely underestimating how much work goes into any and all of the activities by the church.
Clearly. :eyeroll:
I'm not sure the church, as a Church, has to put it's name on anything after this. Everything else can be done off stage, or at least off the pulpit, by 527s or PACs closely tied to the church but not actually The Church. The Church has done the supreme work of pointing the way and nodding, and can plausibly deny all of the subsequent work the church's position entails, because that work will most probably be done by an ancillary body of professionals who receive their pay from donors who happen to be members of the church.
Posts: 5600 | Registered: Jul 2001
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posted
527s and PACs don't apply to initiative elections.
I think you might do well to try to state you objection without relying on specifics, the factual errors you are making are obscuring your point.
Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003
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posted
Now, I may not be a lawyer, but my handy-dandy wikipedia article lists Emily's List, Sierra Club, and the AFL-CIO as 527 groups. It also tells me that while 527s are primarily organized around a candidate, they can be organized around an issue. And a PAC is "In the US, a political action committee, or PAC, is the name commonly given to a private group, regardless of size, organized to help or hurt government officials or to help pass or undermine legislation."
I'm not saying the wikipedia is always right, or maybe initiatives do not fall under the subset of "help pass or undermine legislation," but I think that they do.
posted
I was imprecise. 527s and PACS are only relevant as legal entities because of limitations on supporting candidates. While they can be used for issues and legislation, there's nothing they can accomplish in that regard that can't be accomplished easily with other organization types. However, there are things that they can do with respect to elections for office that can't be accomplished easily with other organization types.
Moreover, each of those organizations raise a host of possible issues, any one of which might underlie your complaint in this matter. Because most of those issues relate to the candidate-specific provisions, it's still not clear what your objection here is.
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