| Nonprofits Claim Campaign Finance Rules Will Muzzle Issue Advocacy |
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| Thursday, 27 October 2011 11:07 |
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Nonprofits are warning New York City Campaign Finance Board (CFB) that their proposed new independent expenditure regulations could have potentially destructive “unintended consequences” for legitimate education and advocacy regarding public policy. More than 30 groups also signed on to a letter outlining their concerns. The CFB’s new rules state that "Electioneering refers to the personal qualities, character, or fitness of a candidate, or supports or condemns that candidate's public record or position on issues, such as 'Tell Candidate X that her position on budget cuts is wrong.'" Under these rules, if an organization spends as little as $1,000 asking voters to tell their Council Member to restore Senior Center funding, then the nonprofit would be subject to Campaign Finance Board regulations enforceable with $10,000 fines and even criminal prosecution. “While we support the Charter amendment requiring disclosures for election related independent expenditures, there are serious unintended consequences in the CFB’s rules that must be addressed,” said Michael Stoller, Executive Director of the Human Services Council. “As drafted, the regulations threaten the ability of a wide range of organizations to participate effectively in policy debates and communicate with the public about legislative issues.” Nonprofit leaders believe these new rules go above and beyond simple disclosure of election related independent expenditures directed at the public and instead threaten the ability of a wide range of organizations to communicate with the public about legislative issues, participate in policy debates, and communicate with their own members and supporters about politics. “Our advocacy played an instrumental role in this year’s fight to save child care for working families and efforts over the years to pass local child care and earned income tax credits – exactly the kind of activity threatened by these new regulations,” said Jennifer March-Joly, Executive Director of Citizens’ Committee for Children. “Now more than ever nonprofits fighting for the New Yorkers most in need should be encouraged to speak up - not subjected to rules limiting our speech.” “Our work isn’t about promoting candidates, it’s about making sure that the voices of working class New Yorkers are part of important policy debates” said Oona Chatterjee, Co-Executive Director of Make the Road New York. “But the way these regulations are written, when a non-profit 501c3 organization communicates information about a particular policy, it could be interpreted as a de facto endorsement of a candidate, and it would put a community organization like ours in violation of the law.” Membership organizations also highlighted ways the regulations would decrease participation in the political process. “Our internal advocacy program is designed to educate our members, train them as leaders, and provide them with the tools to participate in the democratic process – not to sway the general public on an election,” said Jesse Laymon of Citizen Action of New York. “Trying to regulate our program as an independent expenditure goes above and beyond the Charter amendment passed by New Yorkers; the CFB should focus on the original Charter mandate requiring wealthy individuals and organizations to disclose political communications to the public, not infringe on communications with our own members.” Groups signing on to the letter expressing concerns included:
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Comments
Nonprofits in New York City are essential to creating just and fair public policies, especially those members of our community depend on the nonprofits for critical services NOT provided by government. The CFB should reconsider its language to ensure nonprofits can continue their education and advocacy efforts on policy matters impacting their beneficiaries.