U.S. Representative Bill Flores (R-Texas) released the following statement on H.R. 5053, the Preventing IRS Abuse and Protecting Free Speech Act, which passed the House today on a vote of 240-182:
“Today, the House passed critical legislation to protect Americans’ First Amendment right to free speech and assembly. The Preventing IRS Abuse and Protecting Free Speech Act will prevent the Internal Revenue Service from misusing or abusing personal donor information. While the Supreme Court has long upheld that states cannot compel non-profits to disclose their donor information, recent actions by the IRS, which targeted conservative groups’ tax-exempt status, as well as intimidation efforts by state attorneys general have reinforced the need to eliminate threats to the constitutional rights of non-profit groups. Today’s legislation will allow non-profits of all beliefs to continue to exercise their Constitutional rights.”
Background:
Tax-exempt, non-profit organizations are currently required to file Form 990 Schedule B that lists donors of more than $5,000 in the previous calendar year. In several well-documented cases, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employees have leaked Schedule B information that contained personal donor information. For example, the National Organization for Marriage’s donor list was leaked to the Human Rights Campaign in 2012.
In 2013, IRS official Lois Lerner admitted that the IRS withheld tax-exempt status for hundreds of conservative non-profits due to their ideological affiliation. This month - three years after news of the scandal broke - the IRS finally released a full list of the groups that were targeted.
In the 1958 ruling NAACP v. Alabama, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the state of Alabama could not compel the disclosure of NAACP’s membership list.
Congressman Bill Flores represents the 17th District of Texas and is an entrepreneur, former energy executive, Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Chairman of the Republican Study Committee (RSC) and member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
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