Federal

CONGRESS.
Texas republican Kevin Brady will be filling the vacancy created when Representative Paul Ryan was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives.  Mr. Brady will serve as Chairman of the House, Ways and Means Committee, which is a crucial committee for legislation affecting nonprofits.  He is generally seen to be most favorable to the nonprofit community.

INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE (IRS).
The Commissioner of the IRS has announced the probability of the release of new regulations regarding the political activities of social welfare §501(c)(4) organizations.
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The tax-exempt status of an organization established to educate youth about the dangers of substance abuse was revoked because a substantial portion of the group’s activities was actually conducting bingo games, which does not further its exempt purpose.
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The IRS announced the agency will no longer process incomplete applications for tax-exempt status.  Presumably the applications will be returned to the applicant.

PRESIDENTIAL POLITICS.
In a recent speech, candidate Ben Carson promoted the elimination of deductions for charitable contributions.

UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE (USPS).
The Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers reported that a senior USPS leader publicly committed to no general price increase for letters and flat mail in 2016 – good news indeed!