By Eliza Newlin Carney
But much of what Treasury and the IRS outlined Tuesday is similar to draft regulations that the pro-free speech Center for Competitive Politics is preparing to submit to the agencies, said center President David Keating. However, Keating objected to the section of the federal guidance that defines political activity to include communications made within 60 days of a general election and 30 days of a primary that “clearly identify a candidate or political party.”
“Much of that activity is clearly issue speech, and the IRS has no ground to be regulating or limiting that,” Keating said. He noted that the window before a primary or general election “is a time when Congress is at the peak of its session in an election year,” and that “these are times when groups need to be making communications about bills before Congress.”
