*URGENT MESSAGE*

The U.S. House is going to consider several new versions of the Istook
amendment.  We expect votes as early as this afternoon, as the House
considers another stopgap funding bill to keep the government open.

To refresh your memory, the amendment would require nonprofit grantees to
comply with a series of burdensome, unnecessary regulations in order to ensure
that federal funds aren't used for lobbying.

Since such use already illegal and since nonprofits are subject to strict
reporting requirements, the Istook amendment is completely unnecessary.

Our understanding is that the new versions would

        1)  require grantees to disclose on any document describing a
federal program or project the dollar amount and percentage of federal
and nongovernmental funds.

        2)  create new reporting requirements, over and above those
already in place in the tax code and the Lobbying Disclosure Act.  This
would require us to keep at least two sets of books.

As always, the Istook amendment specifically exempts government contractors.

Please contact your House member and ask him or her to oppose the new
Istook amendments.  They can be reached by phone at 202-225-3121.  The
House gopher site is house.gov -- it lists e-mail addresses for many
(though not most) members.

If you have questions, feel free to call or e-mail me.

Andy Finch
[log in to unmask]
AAM Government Affairs
202-289-9125