DEMS/GOP/POLITICS/TAXES: “A controversial provision that would have permitted nonprofit groups to enter politics and could have led so-called ‘dark money’ contributions to become tax deductible has been dropped from the GOP tax bill, according to a leading Senate Democrat.
Sen. Ron Wyden gave credit to his fellow Democrats for striking the Republican proposal to roll back the Johnson Amendment — which prevents tax-exempt charities from directly participating in politics — saying in a statement that they had stopped the measure ‘from being jammed into any final Republican tax deal.’…
The rule change was included in the House’s version of the tax plan but not in the Senate’s, leading to its inclusion in this week’s reconciliation process.
While the House measure had restrictions in place to prevent direct campaign contributions, campaign finance experts contend that the regulations were vague and could have led to tax-deductible ‘sham’ charities supporting candidates…
The Byrd Rule — an arcane Senate rule that determines what can be allowed it into a reconciliation bill — likely was a key factor in the decision to drop the rollback of the Johnson Amendment.
Campaign finance experts had warned that repealing the amendment would have led to a flood of ‘dark money’ political contributions being funneled into newly tax-deductible nonprofits, including charities and churches.”
-Jon Sarlin, “‘Dark money’ provision dropped from tax bill,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, Dec. 15, 2017 05:09am