Well this could be fun: The Free Speech Coalition has come out with their latest salvo in the fight over condoms and porn with the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, and they’re going to get legal on AHF’s ass.
They’ve petitioned California’s Attorney General Kamala Harris to “determine if the organization’s non-profit status should be revoked” because they’ve overstepped the law when it comes to political expenditures, as a non-profit.
“Many people have wondered how a non-profit like AHF could spend so much money in politics, given the strict limitations placed on non-profit political activity by the IRS and the State of California,” says Jeffrey Douglas, Board Chair of the Free Speech Coalition. “The answer appears to be: by underreporting campaign expenditures on tax forms, even while filing much higher numbers on state lobbying disclosure forms.”
According to findings reported to Harris, AHF reported $2.3 million in political expenditures to LA County in support of Measure B in 2012, but they only reported $1.6 million in total campaign expenses to the IRS that year. They also apparently paid $300,000 to lobbyists that year, bringing their annual total to $2.6 million; $1 million more than they reported to the IRS and the California Attorney General.
FSC believes that AHF’s total political and lobbying expenditures in the past 4 years actually totals almost $7 million, or $1 million higher than the threshold for revocation of tax-exempt status.
“A non-profit organization should not be able to abuse the status granted to it by the state of California,” Douglas says. “Actions like these not only distort the political process, they starve in-need communities of critical services so that checks can be written to lobbyists.”
Looking forward to how this one plays out!
Previously: TREASURE ISLAND MEDIA WINS VICTORY OVER CALIFORNIA HEALTH AGENCY IN CONDOM CASE