Regime Critics Risk Losing Tax-Exempt StatusThe message from California is clear: defiance of the regime will strip you of your nonprofit status.
Christina Eastman
Aug 4, 2022
The January 6 Committee is not the only government entity trying to punish critics of the regime for alleged insurrection. Lawmakers in California are following suit, weaponizing their authority over the not-for-profit sector.
The “No Tax Exemption for Insurrection Act,” introduced earlier this year by California legislator Scott Wiener, is percolating through bureaucratic committees, making its way to Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk. If signed, Senate Bill 834 would rescind the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit involved in or inciting efforts to “overthrow the United States Government or any state government.” Wiener stated that the bill would also prevent nonprofits based outside of California that engage in activity deemed treasonous from fundraising in the Golden State.
This is the latest action taken by policy makers to send a clear message to NGOs: Any direct or indirect participation in the events of January 6 erroneously characterized by the media and the J6 committee as treasonous activity—and any future acts of defiance of the regime—will strip you of your nonprofit status.
To be sure, organizations that engage in criminal activity, such as destroying government property, should have their tax-exempt status revoked. But the open-ended language of the bill makes it easy to punish organizations that “incite” violence, the interpretation of which is subject to the discretion of the attorney general.
There is an established legal standard for an individual to meet the qualifications for “incitement” of violence. But as the left moves further in the direction of classifying speech it doesn’t like as “violence,” First Amendment protections go out the window. The proposed bill would give state authorities the power they need to combat the effectiveness of conservative-minded organizations that challenged the authority of the ruling class in 2020.
It is true that some restrictions on freedom of speech already exist for nonprofits. The most obvious example of this pertains to political activity. The Internal Revenue Code holds that "all section 501(c)(3) organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office.” But SB-834 goes further, restricting the actions of organizations that think the 2020 election was nefariously conducted and were labeled “insurrectionists” by the media regime.
Wiener openly admits that this bill is an attempt to block conservative groups from profiting off of well-sourced claims that the 2020 election was stolen.
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Source:
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/regime-critics-risk-losing-tax-exempt-status/
