U.S. Environmental Nonprofits Not Classed as Political Committees

WASHINGTON, DC, May 14, 2004 (ENS) - Hundreds of nonprofit organizations across the country are breathing a sigh of relief because the Federal Election Commission (FEC) has decided not to reclassify them as political committees before the election in November.

On March 4, FEC proposed new rules that would have redefined many nonprofits as political committees. Political committees have to register and report to the Federal Election Commission, and are subject to funding restrictions that prevent them from accepting contributions from corporations, labor unions, foundations, and individual donations above $1,000.

Under the proposed rule an environmental nonprofit organization classed could have been considered a political committee if it spent $50,000 on an ad campaign during this election year criticizing President George W. Bush for weakening regulations on mercury emissions from coal fired power plants.

Michael Toner is one of six members on the Federal Election Commission, a government body. (Photo courtesy FEC)

The Alliance for Justice praised the Commission's decision. "We applaud the FEC for listening to the tens of thousands of nonprofits who spoke out against the proposed rule changes," said Alliance for Justice President Nan Aron. "This is a great victory for the nonprofit community. The FEC's deliberate decision to not change the rules preserves the critical voice of the nonprofit sector."

The Alliance for Justice, joined by 672 nonprofit organizations across the country, opposed the rulemaking proposed by the FEC in March because of itsfar-reaching detrimental implications for the nonprofit community.

"Instead of bowing to partisan criticism, the FEC has chosen not to rush to judgment during an election season," said Aron. "This decision is not a failing of the FEC's stewardship, it represents critical leadership that acknowledges both the need and the consequence of any changes."

Nan Aron heads the Alliance for Justice (Photo courtesy Independent Judiciary)

The Republican political leadership agrees that the FEC non-decision will trigger a fundraising war. Bush-Cheney Campaign Chairman Marc Racicot and Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie Thursday called the FEC action "irresponsible."

“The 2004 elections will now be a free-for-all," said Racicot and Gillespie in a joint statement. "Thanks to the deliberate inaction by the Federal Election Commission, the battle of the 527’s is likely to escalate to a full scale, two-sided war."

“The Commission by its own action, or more precisely inaction, today has given the green light to all non-federal '527’s' to forge full steam ahead in their efforts to affect the outcome of this year’s Federal elections and, in particular, the presidential race," Racicot and Gillespie said.

Ed Gillespie chairs the Republican National Committee (Photo courtesy RNC)

FEC guidelines prohibit donations to a federal leadership committee of more than $5,000 per year from an individual or political action committee, but 527 committees can accept unlimited contributions.

“Now that the Commission has spoken, or not spoken," said the Republican leaders, "it is all but certain that those groups that would like to see the President re-elected and the U.S. House and Senate remain in Republican control will begin raising and spending money in the same manner as those groups that would like to see the President defeated and the U.S. House and Senate in Democratic control have already been doing. Thanks to the Federal Election Commission, the “527” battle will now rage unabated through Election Day.”

Congressional campaigns raised a total of $ 583.3 million in the 15 months of the 2003-2004 election cycle ending March 31, an increase of 35 percent from the comparable period in the 2001-2002 campaign, according to a compilation by the Federal Election Commission.