IRS Commissioner John Koskinen spoke at the National Press Club on Wednesday and said that a proposed rule aimed at limiting free speech for 501(c)(4) non-profits would not be finished before the end of the year. The agency had posted a proposed rule for public comment that would strictly limit the ways 501(c)(4)s could operate in the weeks and months leading to a federal election. Specifically, these non-profits, including NumbersUSA Action, would not be able to mention a candidate's name even if the reference was non-election related.
The proposed regulation would prohibit 501(c)4 organizations, whose mission is to promote "social welfare", from engaging in candidate-related political activity, which, by the proposed rule's definition, includes any mention of a candidate's name or political party even if presented in a non-political context. Further, organizations would have to ensure that any references to candidates in past communications are not publicly available, including online, during the pre-election window.
These regulations, if approved, would have prohibited NumbersUSA from providing candidate comparisons, voting records, and other activities.
The IRS was overwhelmed by negative comments regarding the rule, causing the agency to re-examine the issue.
"During the comment period, which ended in February, we received more than 150,000 comments," Koskinen said. "That's a record for an IRS rulemaking comment period. In fact, if you take all the comments on all Treasury and IRS draft proposals over the last seven years and double that number, you come close to the number of comments we are now beginning to review and analyze. It's going to take us a while to sort through all those comments, hold a public hearing, possibly repropose a draft regulation and get more public comments. This means that it is unlikely we will be able to complete this process before the end of the year."
For more information, see the Washington Times and ProtectC4FreeSpeech.com.
