Don’t Weaken the Existing Ban on Electioneering by 501(c)(3) Organizations
During this year’s National Prayer Breakfast, President Trump renewed his call for a repeal of the 62-year-old ban, and several different bills have been introduced in Congress to weaken or completely repeal it. The Center for Non-Profits strongly opposes repeal and supports preserving the current law.
The current ban provides an important buffer between partisan politics and charitable or philanthropic works. A hallmark of the charitable community is its ability to unify stakeholders and tackle important problems without regard to partisan labels. As the National Council of Nonprofits has pointed out, if the Johnson Amendment is repealed, charities risk becoming identified more with a specific political party and less as the problem-solvers they are.