Lawyers for the House of Representatives have concluded that the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has legal standing to pursue contempt charges against Lois Lerner. Lerner is the former head of the exempt organizations division of the IRS. The contempt charge comes from Lerner’s refusal to testify before the Committee earlier this month. The …
Posts By: Jessica Shofler
Big Trouble for College Football?
Today the Chicago District of the National Relations Board ruled that football players at Northwestern University are employees and can unionize. The Board found that players’ scholarships are tied directly to their performance on the field, they are working between 20-50 hours per week, and they are generating millions of dollars for the university. This …
Can TV Help AmeriCorps?
That’s just what AmeriCorps supporters are hoping. The future of the government program, which pays stipends to individuals spending up to a year helping nonprofits “move communities forward,” is in doubt. So eighteen nonprofits, including many that rely on AmeriCorps such as City Year and Teach for America, are joining a three year campaign to …
House Releases Scathing Report on Lerner
Lois Lerner, former head of the IRS division on exempt organizations, may have pleaded the Fifth (twice), but that has not stopped the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee from issuing a damning report about Lerner’s role in the recent 501(c)(4) scandal. Released Tuesday, the report accuses Lerner of leading efforts to scrutinize conservative groups, …
House Trying to Force Nonprofits to be "Effective"
Can a new tax plan make nonprofits more “effective”? That’s what the House is hoping. A draft bill recently announced by the House Ways and Means Committee would penalize nonprofits for activities that the Committee has determined are not effective uses of charitable funds. Specifically, the bill would: • Impose a 25% surtax on nonprofits …
Lerner Pleads the Fifth – AGAIN
The theme of this week’s blogs is déjà vu. Earlier today we told you that the charitable deduction is being threatened – AGAIN. And Lois Lerner, former head of the IRS division on exempt organizations, refused to answer questions – AGAIN. Readers of this blog remember Lerner pleading the Fifth in May 2013 at a …